Actually, forty-three. That’s how many days it is since Israel blocked all food aid entering into Gaza. For forty-three days, the people of Gaza have – once again – been facing the very real threat of starvation. In addition, Israel has destroyed one of the last working desalination plants, severely disrupting the supply of fresh water. It’s bombed the only fully functional hopsital in Gaza. It’s targeted and killed most of the few Palestinian journalists it hadn’t murdered already. And, of course, it’s redoubled its military assault on a population who’ve already seen tens of thousands of their number killed.
The list of war crimes committed by Israel beggars belief. And it continues to grow. But I’m not sure how much of this would be clear if you get your news from, say, the BBC. The sad truth is that eighteen months into this genocide, much of our media and many of our politicians fail to speak out about Gaza in the way they do about Ukraine. Compare and contrast the way they reported the execution of fifteen Palestinian paramedics, versus the outrage at the Russian bombing of Sumy yesterday, when thirty-four people were also killed. That – rightly – made the headlines; we learned the stories of the victims of the bombing. The murdered paramedics in Gaza weren’t even named.
Our governments, and the institutions which should hold them to account, have failed us and they’re failing the people of Palestine. I know that, for myself, recognising this fact while continuing to believe it’s more important than ever to speak out – to remind people of our shared humanity – feels like balancing two opposing forces. On the one hand, futility; on the other, urgency. Some days futility wins out; on others – like today – the necessity of holding those responsible to account trumps everything.
What can I do? I write poems. Poetry gives me a voice. It helps me negotiate my response to what is happening. It wards off – for a little while – a corrosive sense of hopelessness in the face of such unchallenged evil. And I share some of those poems because I hope they’ll do the same for other people, too.
Yesterday, I wrote a poem imagining a scenario where the world is compelled to step in to save the people of Gaza. Yorkshire Bylines were good enough to share it. CultureMatters have, too. You can read it by clicking on the links, if you wish to. Thanks.