Dear Editor,

The genocide in Gaza — and the international reaction that never rose to the occasion — is a stark reminder of the renewed need for collective action in our societies. As a human community, we must ask ourselves: What are we, if not what we do?

A war is never without destruction and pain: soldiers dying, towns on fire, and the destruction of logistic hubs and critical strategic objectives. This is inevitable. But the annihilation of Gaza is much more. It represents the choice of a whole nation, Israel , to undermine Palestine history, which is different from other Middle Eastern countries, to become openly and shamelessly heartless.

Israel was born as an answer to the brutality of Nazism, a place where its people could finally find an identity after centuries of pogroms and victimisation. It was the concrete achievement of the dream of the Holy Land that the people belonged to.

How has this fulfilment of a dream been able to generate a monster? Remembering their bloody past, Israelis should honour such memories through brotherhood, compassion, and humanity, instead of replicating the horrors of Auschwitz, that historical memory could have led them down the path towards setting an example of civilised coexistence.

Throughout the last year, hostilities against Palestinians have escalated. Before the eyes of the whole world, hospitals have been bombed, killing patients and doctors, and schools have been razed to the ground with their teachers and students. Entire neighbourhoods are now ruins, while images of massive relocation show mothers with children looking for shelter.

Through all the media footage, we have witnessed the massacre: children without arms trembling in the dust and daily killings of hundreds of defenceless and innocent people. Nobody can pretend not to know what is happening. The most recent decision by this inhumane political system is to block humanitarian intervention, food delivery, and the distribution of medications. We all saw thousands of people starving, crying with empty plates, and fighting for a piece of bread.

All the reports from agencies and non-governmental organisations engaged in saving lives keep sounding the alarm of an irreversible level of inhumane treatment. Millions of people took to the streets in many countries, including a significant number of outraged Jews, demanding that the war stop now.

The response among nations has been deafening silence, a tacit agreement to say nothing. Modest requests for action to be taken were not translated into any robust political engagement or intervention. The UN resolution for an immediate ceasefire was vetoed by the US Government, whose president has proposed transforming Gaza into a resort.

Is there anything we can do? Can any Jamaican pretend that this endless horror won’t lead to the systematic extermination of two million human beings? I do not have any power, apart from writing this appeal.

I am calling on anyone who is willing to take the responsibility to build any kind of collective initiative.

Maria Carla Gullotta

Executive director

Stand Up For Jamaica

carlajamaica51@gmail.com