Markus bb

I plead to the international community to intervene and stop the ongoing bombing, the ethnic cleansing and the genocide of the palestinian people. The complete disregard for palestinian life and the indiscriminate bombing of children, civilians, medical staff and journalists is abundantly clear in the actions taken and the language spoken publically. The ongoing rethoric that dehumanizes and justifies the killing of palestinians, that tries to vilify peaceful protests calling for peace and a ceasefire and to twist the words of the oppressed is a tactic we have seen far too often in history and it is playing out infront of our eyes in real time. I fear that the widespread racism and xenophobia that will take place due to this will last generations. The death toll is already at a number that is incomprehendible. Someones daughter, someones mother, somones uncle, someones brother, on paper just a statistic, we read a casualty number in the thousands and it doesn't make sense to us, but in reality each and every one of them had loved ones, a deep impact on those around them and a story of hopes and dreams. I do not think enough people put themselves in the situation of palestinians. Empathy has been replaced with an urge to find reasons as to why palestinians deserve to die. I call for a ceasefire because I want the murder to stop, for the wounded to receieve help, to stop the starvation and the oncoming disease, to stop the build up of even more life lasting trauma that will echo in generations, to free all of the hostages, to free those who are under administrative detention with 0 evidence of wrong doing and to stop the destruction of everything in Gaza. May ALL war criminals on both sides be tried in international courts, stop the injustice and bring equal rights to EVERYONE so a process of healing can begin. This is not a war of religion, to make it so is intentional to create a stronger divide of us against them. Ethnic and religious groups are not a monolith and to claim that they are is in fact racist. I condemn all forms of anti-semitism and racism, any calls for genocide or the deaths of innocents. My grandfather told me our family history of how we were displaced from Nazareth during the Nakba in 1948, with the promise that they could come back, with family members murdered infront of them, they fled to Syria and stayed at the border of Palestine. He told me how his family helped the refugees from the 2nd World War and how all people lived together in harmony, where the focus was on what brought them together and not what seperated them. My grandfather is not with us (peace be upon him) but he never lost hope of what was, and what can still be. I carry my palestinian blood and I will also never lose hope over what can be. I stand with my brothers and sisters who want peace and justice for all. Call for ceasefire now rather then a useless statement of regret a couple of years down the line when the blood of innocents have been soaked into the soil. #CeasefireNOW