Imagine a time in 2075 when historians and others look back at this period we are currently living in. Many questions will be asked––one of which will be: why were thousands of Palestinian people allowed to die from starvation and genocide? How did the international community fail these people?

In November 2023, I wrote an opinion piece: “In Search of Moral Clarity in the Middle East,” in response to what I thought was some moral confusion. I feel the need to write again in response to the opinion piece: “Nonsense and falsity from ‘pro Palestinian’ groups,” published on June 23.

In April 2024, Rwanda remembered 30 years since the genocide there which killed more than 800,000 people. During this commemoration, Rwandan leaders called out the failure of the international community for not intervening to stop it. It seems that the same is happening now. To date, more than 55,000 people have been killed and a recent BBC report states that: “Gaza’s population of around 2.1 million Palestinians is at “critical risk” of famine and faces “extreme levels of food insecurity” as an Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid continues.”

As I write, Israeli forces continue to kill Palestinians and all humanitarian aid from the UN and other credible humanitarian organizations has been blocked. Instead, an Israel-US created group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation comprising American security contractors and ex-military officers is supposedly delivering aid. Media reports show much chaos, desperate people in need of aid getting shot at, some killed, including children and the violation of humanitarian principles such as humanity, neutrality, and impartiality.

Pro-Palestinian protestors are protesting against the genocide and intentional starvation of Palestinian people. This is not nonsense or false. Pro-Palestinian protestors are protesting against the unabating financial and military support by the the U.S. Government to the Israeli government for decades. This is also not nonsense or false. Being in solidarity with Palestinian children, women, and men does not equal condoning the actions by Hamas.

The Jewish people, just like the Palestinian people, have a right to exist; they also, just like the Palestinian people also have a right to a land,  but (some) Jewish people do not have the right to obliterate a population. I know that many Jewish people are also against what the Israeli government is doing and have done for decades.

The situation in Israel and Palestine is complex––too complex and lengthy for an opinion piece like this to do it justice. However, what can be said is that October 7, 2023 did not mark the beginning of this war. The beginning took place in 1917 with the Balfour Declaration when the British government which controlled Palestine at the time, gave Jewish people the right to immigrate and take land traditionally held by Palestinians. Historians have questioned the legitimacy behind Britain’s actions. Something could be said about the right of any country to claim sovereignty of another country and decide its fate.

Palestinians have been subjugated and oppressed in their own land for several decades now. Israel has maintained an apartheid system over Palestine. The word ‘apartheid’ originates from the Afrikaans meaning ‘apartness’ and was used to describe the repressive political system for the nonwhite majority that South Africa maintained from 1948 to 1994. The Black South African population experienced racial segregation, oppression and were denied basic rights and freedoms.  Similarly, Palestinians have been submitted to an apartheid state by Israel for many years. 

An apartheid state is a violation of international law and is considered a crime against humanity. The International Court of Justice has recently issued arrest warrants for  Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant and a military commander of Hamas (who, it has been claimed was killed during an Israeli strike) with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

While I think it’s important to give visibility to those who died or are still held as hostages taken during the attack by Hamas by stating their names, if I was to attempt note the names of all the Gazans and others  who have died as a result of Israeli forces, I wouldn’t be able to do it––we know some of their names but not all of them. There are just too many to name but also because their lives are deemed un-grievable. This is a moral failing. Thousands of Palestinians also remain detained; most of them without due process.

The number of pro-Palestinian solidarity groups that have surged around the world since October 7, 2023 is testament to an increasing understanding and awareness of the situation in the occupied territories. These groups should be lauded rather than denounced for finally helping to make the plight of Palestinians visible.

Solidarity with the Palestinian children, women, and men must not stop now.

Anna Malavisi is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Philosophy, History, and World Perspectives at Western Connecticut State University.