2024 has been an incredibly difficult year for me. As someone of Palestinian background, I have witnessed the ongoing genocide against my people, including the unimaginable pain of seeing babies and children being slaughtered in front of our eyes. The silence from the so-called international community is both heartbreaking and incomprehensible.

I am often left stunned, my heart aching not just for the children of Gaza but for the conscience of humanity itself. How have we let this happen?

After World War II, the global community vowed, “Never again.” Yet here we are, watching history repeat itself—and worse, it’s the first time in history that we are witnessing a genocide unfold in real time. Many of us around the world feel deeply betrayed by what is referred to as the “international community.”

Where are the religious institutions in all of this? Where is the love, justice, and humanity they preach about? Why is there such silence from the official Church, Synagogue, and Buddhist institutions?

Do Palestinian lives not matter?

How can we allow the destruction and killing to continue in what we call the “Holy Land”?