According to the UN, there have been well over 100,000 Palestinians in Gaza that have died. In most wars, the ratio of direct to indirect deaths is 1:4, but it’s suspected to be well over that for Gaza. Indirect deaths are deaths caused by lack of food, lack of medical care, etc. Two of these Palestinians, Hind Rajab and Sidra Hassouna, have become symbols of unimaginable loss, and their stories should haunt anyone who believes in human dignity.
Hind Rajab was a 5-year-old girl who was hiding in a car with her uncle, his wife and their four children. They were trying to escape and Hind’s cousin was on the phone with an emergency responder. Then, the tank that was approaching them fired 355 bullets into the car.
Hind and one of her cousins survived the initial attack, so Hind took the phone from the dead body of her aunt and called emergency services. Hind was telling the responder to please come get her. According to the BBC, they were stranded in the car for hours while two paramedics were murdered trying to save children. Hind’s cousin died, and hours later, Hind died alone, terrified, stranded and unheard. Her voice, captured in audio recordings, has since become a rallying cry for justice. The audio capturing her story was released by the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
Hind Rajab isn’t the only child who’s had to face the cruelty of Israeli forces. Seeing the mutilated body of Sidra Hassouna being hung from the top of a bombed shelter for the displaced in Gaza will forever haunt me. According to The Guardian, she and over 70 other people were murdered, most of them children. But remember, these are not just numbers, they are lives, dreams and futures, erased in seconds.
She was seven years old. You can find the image of her death all over the internet and her story was told by The Washington Post, LA Times and more.
These are just two stories among thousands.
But why should people in America care?
The tax dollars that you will be paying one day or are paying right now can be used to make all these atrocities happen.
What if instead of sending all that money to Israel, why can’t that money actually go to where it would be beneficial for humanity? Why can’t it go towards our education? Why can’t it go towards the judicial system? Why can’t it go towards solving violence issues?
Why does it have to go towards something that will only make the world a worse place to live? And what can you do about it?
Protest, boycott, do whatever you can to make sure as many people know about what’s happening in Palestine. The boycotts are working, according to The Times of Israel (enemy territory), Israel is losing 40 billion a year due to people boycotting.
Hind Rajab’s story is a story of loss, but it can provide hope and awareness for those who are left.
