Sayek Ahmed Sajib

When the crazy celebrations started on 31st night, my two little sons embraced their mother and started crying. They did so as they got scared after hearing heavy sounds and watching a sudden sparkle of light. These little children do not know that it is a way of welcoming a new year. It is not harmful for them at all. After seeing my sons’ condition, a lot of imaginary faces of innocent children of Gaza came before my eyes. Perhaps these innocent children are accustomed to hearing the heavy sounds of bomb blasts as they are destined to die in a cruel way. Once a Gaza child was asked about his aim in life – “what do you want to be in your adult age?” In reply, the child said, “They (Israelis) do not give us a chance to be mature.”

Perhaps they (Gaza people) all have complaints against all of us, as we, most of the people of the world, are silent about the sufferings and pains inflicted on them by the Israeli forces. Palestinians are landless in their own land. Though many people and organisations often raise voice against violations of human rights, most of them maintain a weird silence when it comes to Palestine issue. When their turn comes, probably human rights defenders feel that “all human beings are equal, but Palestinians are less equal than others.”

A few days ago, a TV channel report on the massacre going on in Gaza hurt me so much. Through the report I came to know that an Israeli soldier went on a killing mission in Gaza. Suddenly, he unintentionally opened the window of a car, and it seemed to him that he was at a slaughterhouse which was full of smell of rotten flesh. He also saw that some dogs were eating the flesh of the corpses. This heart-wrenching scene raised humanity in him and he came back from Gaza and decided not to kill any Palestinian more. If all the Israeli soldiers had this sense of humanity, Palestinians could have lived a peaceful life in their own motherland.

Jeremy Bernard Corbyn, a British politician and Member of Parliament (MP), has recently posted on his Facebook page that Israel has destroyed the last remaining hospital in northern Gaza. He posted, “We have witnessed the total decimation of Palestinian healthcare, met with silence from political leaders who refuse to acknowledge the horrors they have enabled. This is the dehumanising reality of genocide.” He has also said that history will judge those who had the opportunity to stop this massacre. He has further said that Netanyahu, the controversial leader of Israel, reportedly battling stage 3 cancer, should face justice for his actions, not sympathy. We hope he recovers - not out of goodwill, but so he can face the trial for war crimes against the Palestinian people.

If all the powerful leaders of the world were like Jeremy Bernard Corbyn, Palestine would not turn into a hell. Yes, it is not a hyperbole; rather, it is true that the Israel has transformed this land into a worldly hell. Netanyahu always takes credit for this. He also expresses his gratitude to the USA and other western countries for supporting him in this mission. What a shameful act it is! When powerful leaders and powerful countries of the world shamelessly support Israelis, they prove that they are the agents of hypocrisy.

Even on the first day of the new year, at least 29 Palestinians, including children and women, were killed throughout Gaza in Israeli attacks in northern Jabalia, the central Bureij refugee camp, Gaza City, and the southern city of Khan Younis.

The United Nations says Israel’s attacks on Gaza’s hospitals have pushed its healthcare system to the brink of total collapse, and Israeli justifications that Palestinian armed groups use health facilities are “vague, broad” and “contradicted by publicly available information.”

According to a survey, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 45,553 Palestinians and wounded 108,379 people since 7 October 2023.

The death toll in Gaza is rising very rapidly. Me realisation is that when my two little sons will grow up and understand that there is nothing to be afraid of the sounds created by fireworks on 31st night, perhaps there will be no existence of Gaza or Palestine. I hope I am proved wrong. 

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The writer is a Lecturer in English at Cantonment College Jashore.

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