*Written by the Ambassador of Palestine in Cyprus, Abdallah Attari
When you hear the Palestinian Ambassador using the word ‘approximately’ regarding the human souls lost due to the bombings of the occupying army,
When you hear the Israeli Ambassador calling genocide an operation.
When there are still some who label genocide and ethnic cleansing as self-defence,
When, after 68 days of bombings with thousands dead and wounded, journalists ask you first and foremost if you condemn and feel the need to provide ethical credentials to everyone in the next drawing.
When a Cypriot journalist sees the genocide of your people as a marketing product and asks if the scenario that the Turks plan to bring Palestinians from Gaza to northern Cyprus is true,
When you see one of Al Jazeera’s main correspondents burying his family members and whispering ‘it doesn’t matter’ over their graves, saying they are avenging them for presenting the truth, killing their children,
When you hear a six-year-old Palestinian answering a journalist’s question, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ with ‘Why, will I grow up? Do we ever grow up?’
When you see a 5-year-old girl pulled from the rubble asking the doctor if what she is experiencing is true or a nightmare,
When you fear that on the day the Israeli occupation allows the international community to deliver milk to Gaza’s children, there will be no children left to drink it,
When you hear that a soldier ordered 1.1 million Palestinians to move from the northern side of the Gaza Strip to the south for their safety, but at the same time they were bombed along the way,
When you sit in front of the television and watch the genocide of your people and mass graves 24/7, with only a few seconds for shampoo ads and Christmas gifts,
When you see the famous clothing company “Zara” advertising a jacket with models carrying corpses in a scene similar to the ruins of Gaza,
When you hear the Israeli Minister asking the Prime Minister to bomb Gaza with nuclear weapons and no one condemns this statement,
When you see the victim and the perpetrator being put on the same scale. When you see ‘human animals’ attacking you, invoking the defence of ‘civilisation’,
When they talk about human shields in an area of 365 square kilometres with 2.5 million people. When you see the largest outdoor prison in the world turning into the largest mass grave,
When you hear that Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis, while 18,412 Palestinians simply disappeared,
When you see Netanyahu at the United Nations showing a map that has erased the entire Palestinian people as if it does not exist,
When you see Israelis discussing how to ‘fix’ the Palestinian people cut and tailor to their measurements,
When you accept 1/4 of your homeland to establish an independent Palestinian state, and even so, the world turns its back on you. When you see how unjustly the policy of double standards is applied with audacity,
When America grants a visa to the Palestinian Foreign Minister for an official visit only on the condition that he does not make statements to journalists,
When you see superpowers vetoing to prevent the genocide from stopping,
When you see countries with values and principles not voting for a ceasefire for humanitarian reasons, but hear presidents of various countries proud of humanitarian aid without condemning the genocide unfolding before our eyes,
When all these happen… No, I am not okay.
After all, who are all of you who rushed to put Israeli flags on your buildings? Do you want us to remind you of your history? Do you want us to remind you of the skulls of the indigenous populations you slaughtered in Africa and exchanged as souvenirs among yourselves?
Perhaps, within the framework of the plan to control the entire Middle East and its reserves, do you consider the Palestinian people a collateral loss?
Give me reasons to respect you. Give reasons to my children not to hate you.
We make a great effort to forget your deeds. However, you insist on reminding us through your actions of the ugly face of occupation and colonialism.
Humanity has failed. However, I want to assure you that we are not a people of beggars and wretches. We will not allow you to turn the Palestinian issue from a national matter to a humanitarian one. We eat, drink, and breathe dignity and pride. If our blood is lost this time, be prepared because you will be the next victims. No people in the world now have asylum. We will be on your side then, on the side of the weak.
We still believe in the slogans we grew up with, and you thought we would forget them. Well, people remember, and they will overcome all the arrogant and hypocritical of the world through their struggles and sacrifices.
