October 11, 2023 

Since early this morning all I could repeat in my head are the messages from friends telling me, "reach out to Ali, check on Ali" and then followed by seeing videos circulating on my news feed of my friend Ali kissing the hands of his family members that are being pulled from under the rubble after their home was targeted in the Sheikh Radwan massacre in Gaza.

I could not do anything but curl up and weep.

There's nothing that I could do for him from where I am in Jerusalem. I couldn't reach him through the phone and part of me kept hoping he wouldn't pick up as I have no idea what to say to someone who has pulled his two brothers, sister, father, and cousin from under the rubble and had to bury them a few hours later. And all this after his home was also turned to rubble a day before, an attack that he survived alongside his wife and children. 

I am terrified of what tomorrow morning might bring, almost wishing it wouldn't come.

Palestinians can't even mourn together, we can't even be there for our people losing their loved ones, homes, and everything else in between. 

That was yesterday. Yesterday I was heartbroken, sad, and utterly destroyed. 

Today I am angry. 

Our people in Gaza are literally facing ethnic cleansing and genocide with most of the world's governments approval and military aid. Since last Saturday alone 2369 Palestinians have been killed, in addition to 9046 injured. According to  Defense for Children – Palestine, more than 1030 Palestinian children in Gaza have been killed by Israeli forces since October 7, or about one child every 15 minutes, and more than one-third of the total death toll. Not to mention the psychological war Israel is waging. They are telling people to leave Gaza before they turn it into rubble, while they enforce a complete blockade on the Gaza Strip, holding almost 2 million people hostage in their own homes. Israel asked people to flee their homes in the north and go to the south, only to bomb them on the road and then bomb more in the north, south, and center. Schools that were being used as shelters were bombed, hospitals were bombed, the only exit out of Gaza was bombed and there is no safe space in Gaza. 

And still, with all of that violence being inflicted on our people in the occupied Gaza Strip, the Israeli military murder machine and blood-thirsty settlers continue to wage their own war on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Since Saturday 7 October 2023 until 15 October 2023 Israeli forces and settlers, together, have killed 56 Palestinians including children and at least two Palestinian villages were entirely ethnically cleansed; they are depopulated and empty now.

I wish I could tell you about every single one of these amazing souls. They were children, they were artists, they were architects, they were farmers, they were brothers, husbands, and fathers and Israeli bullets – whether soldiers or settlers – have killed them all in cold blood. 

We've been getting emails from partners all over the West Bank, from Silwan to Masafer Yatta, telling us how Israeli forces and settlers have been launching a vengeance operation on them just because they are Palestinian. On Oct 11, 2023 we've received this heart-breaking email from one of our partners in Silwan, East Jerusalem:

"We are experiencing a surge of aggressive actions by the Israeli authorities against the Palestinians in Jerusalem.

Yesterday, October 10, 2023, the Israeli occupation police executed in cold blood two young men, Ali Abbasi, 24 years, and Abdel Rahman Faraj, 17 years, from the Silwan neighborhood. This egregious act unfolded after the occupation forces forcefully entered the neighborhood, indiscriminately deploying gas and sound bombs on the homes of its inhabitants.

What profoundly troubles us is the brutality of the execution, as martyr Abdul Rahman was shot in the head, followed by the heart-wrenching loss of Ali as he courageously tried to aid his friend Abdul Rahman. Our hearts go out to them, and may they rest in eternal peace. The occupation forces callously left the lifeless bodies of these two young souls exposed on the ground and prevented the ambulance teams from reaching them for over one and a half hours. During this time, the soldiers hurled abusive language at the lifeless youths before dragging their bodies downstairs and onto the street.

In the aftermath, the forces further exacerbated the anguish by invading the family homes.

Ali and Aded Al-Rahman and their family members were part of Madaa Center's beneficiaries and we are trying our best to provide their families and friends with the needed support."

These are the amazing humans who are being killed by Israel. Active youth, smart youth, and who once were ambitious youth. 

Yet, in the midst of all of this pain and injustice, we find ourselves constantly in a place where we have to plead to the world that we are humans just like the rest of you. In a matter of hours, Palestinian resistance was deemed "ISIS head decapitation, children murderers and women rapist terrorists" and the rest of us were "savage animals" that had to be "eradicated and wiped off the face of the earth". These statements came from world leaders, academics, major media outlets … etc. Sadly, these statements were not even that surprising, the gruesome part was that the whole world agreed with it. I won't get into refuting any of the previous accusations as they've already been refuted.

But I will say this, now more than ever we need to focus on supporting each other and the people of Palestine. The time for action is NOW.

Major human rights organizations and governments decided to side with a genocidal government, showing clearly their hypocrisy. But we will not let them get away with their false narrative. Right now we need to firstly, lift each other up and be there for each other as our existence as Palestinians is being dehumanized on a worldwide scale. Then we need to mobilize. Wherever we can yell and scream for a free Palestine from the river to the sea, we should. And we should support the work of organizations working on the ground in Gaza as people there have been working tirelessly for a week now non-stop. And then we WILL hold all of these criminals accountable. The time for justice and freedom is NOW.