Making a Difference: Silence amid Gaza genocide is morally unacceptable

How is it possible that so much of the world is silent: silent with the full knowledge of genocide being inflicted upon children, pregnant women with their unborn babies, the elderly, and countless innocent people in Israeli occupied Gaza? 

And with silence comes inertia – the tendency to do nothing. 

The shameful endless flow of weapons from arms exporting nations – especially from the U.S. – to Israel has made it possible for the Israeli Defense Forces to attack most of Gaza’s homes, hospitals, schools, places of worship, along with the destruction of water, sanitation, and electrical systems (see: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/displaced-lives-struggle-survival-gaza). 

And as hellish as the Israeli bombs, missiles and bullets are upon mostly innocent human beings, add to all of this inhumanity the fact that Israel refuses to allow emergency life-saving food, water and medical supplies into Gaza causing additional suffering and death – including starvation.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “Starving Gazans continue to be deprived of aid as international relief efforts are being severely constrained by the Israeli authorities.” Adding that “Gaza is the hungriest place on Earth” (see: https://bit.ly/43ReF6C).   

How can so many nations, government leaders, clergy, and parishes largely say and do nothing in the face of genocide?   

In recent remarks to the United Nations Security Council, U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher chastised the international community’s weak response to the Gaza genocide saying, “For those killed and those whose voices are silenced: what more evidence do you need now? Will you act – decisively – to prevent genocide and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law? Or will you say instead, ‘we did all we could?’ “Humanity, the law, and reason must prevail. This Council must prevail. Demand this ends. Stop arming it. Insist on accountability” (see: https://bit.ly/4mUEdbN).

One consistently faithful voice passionately calling for peace, a permanent ceasefire, the full unhindered delivery of emergency supplies and the release of all hostages was our Pope Francis of beloved memory (see: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyqgy6m8e6o).  

Let us untiringly pray and work to bring the catastrophic Gazan genocide to a quick end by regularly emailing and calling our national representatives urging them to pressure the Trump administration to halt all offensive weapon deliveries to Israel, to demand an immediate permanent ceasefire, to insist that Israel immediately allow massive ongoing supplies to reach all those in need, and to negotiate the quick release of all Gazan and Israeli hostages.

In a conversation I had with Edward Clancy, director of outreach for the international Catholic relief organization Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Clancy said ACN has been supporting the 500 Christians sheltering at Holy Family parish in Gaza City where scarce resources are rationed amid tight aid restrictions, and stands with West Bank Christians grappling with economic collapse due to the Israel-Hamas war’s toll on tourism.

Clancy added, “Your generous donations through ACN can provide immediate support to Christians in the West Bank now, and, when safe passage is restored, enable comprehensive relief for those trapped in Gaza. We are poised to bring hope and sustenance to these enduring communities as soon as conditions allow.”

Wherever human suffering exists, may we never be silent!

In his 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, the late Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, voiced these profound words:

“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the center of the universe” (see: https://mediaplayer.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/?id=2028).

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Tony Magliano is an internationally syndicated Catholic social justice and peace columnist. He is available to speak at diocesan or parish gatherings. Tony can be reached at tmag6@comcast.net.