Palestine’s history has been that of nakbas (read: catastrophe), naksas (read: setback) and overall negation (read: pure evil done to them by vile Israel). The Palestinians’ struggle for basic survival has now even overtaken their struggle for a political identity — for political identity depends on the existence of the personhood of those demanding it, and this existence is dragging itself by its sore, blistered feet on the tightrope of death.
When we talk about the Israel-Palestine conflict, we get stuck in a strange loop in time. Almost a century has passed, but the ominous past still lingers in the present — now, only emboldened in its pursuit of mass destruction — staring the entire world in their helpless eyes as it devilishly proceeds to openly persecute innocent lives, all while shamelessly live-streaming and broadcasting it. If this were not already the worst part, those voicing concerns over this moral depravity are being silenced by supposedly democratic world governments, who are directly and indirectly complicit in this monstrous genocide.
The brave ones at the front lines, risking everything to bring the truth to us, are meeting a painful fate. Millions have been brutally murdered by the Israel Defense Forces, and to add to this tragic number, in recent news, 20 more people were killed in an attack on Nasser Hospital on 26 August 2025. Five of them were journalists from Reuters, Associated Press and Al Jazeera. Ahmed Abu Aziz, aged 29; Hussam al-Masri, aged 49; Mariam Abu Daqqa, aged 33; Mohammed Salama, aged 24; Moaz Abu Taha, aged 27 — all young, spirited, kind journalists and honest bearers of truth — were graphically murdered on camera. This is the viscerally nauseating new kill-and-tell reality that we now live in.
Israel has now killed more than 270 journalists and media workers since its war began in October 2023. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a leading body that promotes press freedom, has stated that the war in Gaza has been the deadliest conflict for journalists ever documented. It has also reported that more press members have been killed there in the past two years than were killed worldwide in the prior three years. Yet, in a rare show of complicit, utterly false and performative sympathy, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident a “tragic mishap.” In a genocide that has remorselessly killed more than 60,000 innocent lives in Gaza under the pretext of dismantling Hamas, such remorse by Netanyahu feels more like mockery. In the same breath, he outrightly denies the recent findings of a UN-backed hunger monitor, which reported that more than 500,000 people in Gaza are facing “starvation, destitution and death” as they descend into a man-made famine and hunger-related deaths. Coupled with actual, deadly and potent weaponry, hunger is being used as another diabolical weapon. This sinister plan was actively furthered earlier this year when Israel blocked the supply of essential items, including food, from entering Gaza. It banned the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East from performing any humanitarian work there.
Netanyahu has mercilessly bombed several hospitals — a serious war crime — but he goes unnoticed, unchallenged and walks free. Most Palestinian victims are harmless women and children who have been killed, their bodies lying decapitated and rotting along the debris in the somber streets of Gaza. At least a staggering 1.9 million people (90% of the population) in Gaza have already been displaced, according to UN reports, and live with a constant looming threat, unsafe in every corner under the vast sky — in hospitals, shelters, or even their makeshift camps.
Meanwhile, mass demonstrations have erupted in Israel to bring back the remaining 50 hostages, most of whom are presumably dead by now.
The State of Palestine is currently recognised by 147 of the United Nation’s 193 member states — over 75% of countries. It is shocking that while Israel is wantonly committing genocide, the powerful countries of the world are looking away. Their sin is not only of omission, but also of commission. The United States has not only turned a blind eye to the slaughter of innocent Palestinians but has been actively complicit by handing Israel the very gun and firmly holding Israel’s bloodied hand as it pulls the trigger. The so-called champion of the American Dream has crushed the dreams and freedom of Palestinians — and all those it deems lesser — under its egotistical might. Republicans under Trump and Democrats under Joe Biden, who watched quietly and guiltily as the first 16 months of this mass slaughter unfolded, are equally to blame as genocide enablers.
The Gaza Strip is 41 km long and 10 km wide, yet none of the world’s powers have been able to extend any help. It baffles one that none of the countries in the world have come to the aid of the victims in this tiny tract of prison land, whose borders, airspace, and shoreline are all controlled by Israel. For example, in the Indian context, the Union Territory of Delhi has a length of 51.9 km and a breadth of 48.48 km. Palestine is almost equivalent to the size of this small territory, and yet no nation has been able to do even a little bit — or something as simple as say the right thing out loud and courageously.
Finally, and emotionally so, the scenes of starvation and deteriorating health conditions in Palestine have moved the hardened hearts of the guilty, silent nations and their apparent indifference. Most importantly, the power of the people has finally gained momentum; leaders have announced policy shifts after facing pressure from their domestic populations — as domestic politics is the real driver — in a move meant to appeal to the Muslim voting bloc.
While some European countries, along with the US, do not recognize Palestine as a state, in July, France — a Security Council member — announced it will recognize Palestine as a state in September at the UN General Assembly. India is also among the 147 countries that recognize Palestine. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said his government would also recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes “substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza,” meaning a ceasefire and acceptance of a two-state solution. Australia, Japan and Canada have also signaled willingness to recognize Palestine at the upcoming UNGA, with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney saying the move “depended on democratic reforms from the Palestinian authority.” Other European nations — Spain, Ireland, Norway, Slovenia — already recognize Palestine.
Ironically, as France pushes recognition, the US has revoked visas of members of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation and the Palestinian Authority just before the UNGA in September. Palestinians have little say in their life or death, and this is a brutal reminder.
The pertinent question is why influential countries are dragging their feet in recognizing Palestine. Perhaps they harbor a secret sympathy for Israel, as many of these countries may still feel guilty for not saving the Jews during the Nazi genocide. Do they think their silence is justified while Palestinians meet a similar fate? They did not save the Jews back then due to complicity and self-interest, and in a strange turn of performative sympathy for Jews again, they remain silent amid Palestinian suffering.
The most surprising of all is the UK. After World War I, following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, Britain took control over Palestine. Tensions between Jews and Arabs escalated when the UK openly pledged to establish a “national home” in Palestine for the Jewish people in the 1917 Balfour Declaration. Britain ruled Palestine from 1922 to 1947. During the Holocaust, it heavily restricted entry for European Jews fleeing Nazi persecution. In November 1947, the UN recommended partition and separate Arab and Jewish states. On 15 May 1948, Britain gave up its mandate, leaving Arabs and Jews to fight the war that followed. Israel came into existence in 1948, but Palestine is still awaiting recognition as a state by the UN, having received only non-member observer status in 2012.
It is hypocritical and shameful that the UK is only now considering conditional recognition for Palestine, when it itself was responsible for dismembering it for self-interest.
As Indians, we can say with certainty that the UK committed grave wrongs by partitioning both Palestine and India in 1947. The consequences were dire, and the seeds of hatred sown into previously connected communities continue to wreak havoc. All four nations born from Britain’s selfish motives — Palestine, Israel, India and Pakistan — still suffer. Britain divided, ruled, and left without an iota of consideration. We are still paying the price, whether in the 1967 Six-Day War or the May 2025 war between India and Pakistan.
The only answer to this deathly issue is a two-state solution. All nations must recognize Palestine as a state, granting it full UN membership. Unless this happens, Israel and the US will continue to brand Hamas or its armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigade, as terrorist organizations. The world saw US hypocrisy when it dealt with the Taliban, handing them power in Afghanistan while fully aware it was jeopardizing civil rights, especially for women. So much for the American Dream — it is about time we rename it the American Nightmare.
Israel rejects the two-state solution, arguing that statehood cannot precede negotiations, while Hamas rejects it because of Israel’s repeated betrayals of past peace agreements. Yet this is not what people want. The innocent people in both territories want peace, hope, and a recognized territory they can call home. The world must immediately agree to a two-state solution and allow Palestinians to live as dignified citizens of a sovereign nation.
World leaders must also strongly condemn and hold Benjamin Netanyahu responsible, like Adolf Hitler, for committing heinous war crimes. Netanyahu is the Hitler of the 21st century, and it is necessary to call a spade a spade right now.
A mosque or temple is considered a sanctuary of holiness, purity and surrender. Al Aqsa Mosque or the Temple Mount embody such sacredness, and if this were truly a quest for the Divine, then by all markers of human and metaphysical consciousness, it will never be answered by bombs, blood or bondage.
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Rumaan Mecci is President, Socialist Yuvjan Sabha, and Sandeep Pandey is Secretary General of Socialist Party (India)
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