Surprising no one who has been paying any attention, a UN commission of inquiry this week concluded that Israel’s “war” in Gaza meets four of the five acts that define genocide under international law.
Article here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8641wv0n4go
Killing civilians, causing mass suffering, deliberately making life unliveable, and even preventing births.
More than 64 000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023. Nearly 10 000 of those are women and 20 000 are children.
Children.
Over 90% of homes are damaged or destroyed. Hospitals, water, and power systems have collapsed. Famine has been declared in Gaza City.
These are the facts, and Christians cannot look away. Nobody can look away.
There is no option of ‘neutrality’ here.
Especially for those who claim to follow Jesus, the one who wept over Jerusalem, stood with the oppressed, and challenged us to see the image of God in every person.
How can we be silent when entire populations are being systematically bombed and starved?
Yes, of course we all grieve the terrible violence of October 7th. It was wrong and we long for the release of every hostage. And we also name clearly that what is happening now is beyond “war” – there are not two “sides” here.
This is just sadistic, collective punishment on a scale that even international law calls genocide.
As people of faith, our calling is not to choose sides between peoples in conflict. We are always, always to choose the side of compassion, dignity, and justice.
As Henri Nouwen says: “For Jesus, there are no countries to be conquered, no ideologies to be imposed, no people to be dominated. There are only children, women and men to be loved.”
Right now, that means speaking, praying and acting for an immediate end to the gratuitous violence now masquerading as “defence”. God help us.
(Feed generated with FetchRSS)
