The G Word: Gaza, Genocide, and the Collapse of Conscience
I do not condone violence of any sort by anyone. I do not support terrorist actions — whether committed by individuals, organisations, or governments. We must acknowledge that in some cases, military action may be justified as a form of self-defence. But laws exist to protect civilians, to ensure proportionality, and to uphold the dignity of human life — even in war. When these laws are not only broken but shattered with impunity, we are compelled to speak.
Let’s Talk About the G Word
Not Gaza — though that, too.
Genocide.
A word that should end argument. A word that should shake the ground. A word that drags us from the comfort of opinion into the realm of conscience.
Is Israel committing genocide in Gaza? And if so, why is the world watching in silence?
What Hamas Did — And Why It Doesn’t End the Story
The 7th of October was horrifying. Hamas’s attack on Israeli civilians was brutal, deliberate, and unjustifiable. Families slaughtered. Children taken hostage. A raw wound opened in the Israeli psyche and the world’s conscience.
It was wrong. It was horrific. Full stop. But the story does not begin or end there. Ask yourself this: Why did Hamas do it? Not to excuse — to understand. Because to understand is not to condone. It is to trace the full shape of the tragedy.
A Cage Called Gaza
For over sixteen years, Gaza has been under siege. Blockaded by land, sea, and air. Its people — two million of them — living in what UN officials have called “an open-air prison.” Electricity restricted. Medical supplies withheld. Fishing zones narrowed. Borders sealed.
Over half the population are children. And those children have lived through five wars!
How long can people live without hope before desperation turns to rage? How long can you punish a population for who governs them before they believe the world has written them off? And more importantly: how long can that rage remain containable?
What Israel Is Doing
Since October 2023, over 61,700 Palestinians have been killed, with more than 119,000 injured, and 16,500 children among the dead. Starvation-related deaths are rising. Food and aid are blocked. Hospitals bombed. Entire neighbourhoods erased. This is not defence. This is devastation.
Words That Cannot Be Unheard
Israeli leaders have not hidden their intent:
• Netanyahu invoked Amalek, the tribe God ordered to be wiped out.
• Gallant called Palestinians “human animals.”
• Smotrich called for “total annihilation.”
• Eliyahu proposed a nuclear strike.
• Herzog denied the existence of uninvolved civilians.
This is not strategy. This is ideology. This is the rhetoric of erasure. And when such words align with such actions — the world must ask: is this genocide?
Is Israel Justified?
Every nation has a right to self-defence. But what Israel is doing is not proportional. It is collective punishment, forbidden by international law.
If you kill 10,000 children to stop 10,000 rockets — what exactly have you defended? What have you become?
The Role of the West
• The U.S. has sent over $17.9 billion in military aid to Israel since October 2023.
• The UK has licensed over £500 million in arms exports since 2015.
But there’s been a shift.
In May 2025, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy called Israel’s blockade a “breach of international law” and demanded a ceasefire. The UK has now sanctioned extremist settlers and suspended trade talks.
Early steps. But a crack in the wall of silence.
Trump and the Fantasy of Erasure
In February, Donald Trump proposed turning Gaza into a luxury resort. He called for Palestinians to be relocated and the area rebuilt as the “Riviera of the Middle East.” Ethnic cleansing with a beachfront brochure.
The Silencing of Witnesses
Foreign journalists are banned from Gaza. The Israeli High Court upheld it.
Over 200 Palestinian journalists have been killed. They are the world’s eyes — and yet their voices are often dismissed. If there’s nothing to hide, why silence the witnesses?
The West Bank: A Parallel Tragedy
Since January 2024:
• Over 1,800 settler attacks recorded.
• 13 illegal settlements approved.
• Entire Palestinian villages threatened with erasure.
The world’s response? Mostly silence.
The Weaponisation of Antisemitism
Genuine antisemitism is real and rising. But conflating it with all criticism of Israel is a dangerous distortion. To oppose apartheid, occupation, and mass death is not antisemitic. It is human.
Netanyahu’s Accusations: A Mirror Turned Backwards
On 22nd May 2025, Netanyahu accused the UK, France, and Canada of being:
“On the wrong side of justice. The wrong side of humanity. The wrong side of history.”
Why? Because they dared condemn his war. This, from a man overseeing the destruction of Rafah. This, while children starve under blockade. Even former PM Ehud Olmert called his government: “A gang of thugs… close to a war crime.”
What Netanyahu calls betrayal, others call finally waking up.
So Let’s Say It
Let’s not reduce genocide to a technical term. Let’s not hide behind legalisms or leaflets dropped from drones.
Let’s ask, with raw honesty:
• Is it genocide when starvation is used as a weapon?
• Is it justice when an entire people are punished for the crimes of a few?
• Is it defence when the intent is not just to defeat — but to erase?
If this might be genocide and we say nothing, our silence is not neutral.
It is betrayal.
If this piece resonated with you, share it. Speak it. Challenge silence wherever you find it. Because nothing will change until we dare to name what is happening — and ask, finally, who we are becoming because of it.