Indeed, There Is No Justification

Just three days ago, I published an article recognizing the vicious cycle of conflict in Israel and Palestine, and the bloodshed that it has wrought over the past 75 years. In light of the heart-wrenching and reprehensible killings of over 1,300 Israeli civilians, I agreed with my classmates who firmly stated that “there is no justification” for such terrorism. I stood in solidarity with them, as I do now, as we mourned both Jewish and Palestinian lives lost.

Yet in light of the recent surge in Palestinian civilian killings and the destruction of Gaza, I cannot help but notice that the world has not yet come to believe that there is no justification for the slaughtering and forced removal of Palestinians, either.

Late Thursday night, Israel Defense Forces liaison officers informed the United Nations of their order for an estimated 1.1 million Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza within 24 hours; warning leaflets were airdropped on the north Gaza strip on Friday. This decision to displace civilians from northern Gaza — a region already rendered inhospitable by a history of military blockades — to an overcrowded and overwhelmed southern Gaza will only exacerbate decades worth of displacement. The U.N. called upon Israel to revoke their order, emphasizing that such an evacuation would be “impossible” without “devastating humanitarian consequences.”

I refuse to believe that a displacement of this magnitude is simply an ‘evacuation order’ when I hear an Israeli army veteran urge Israeli civilians to kill their Arab neighbors, to “erase the memory of them,” to “erase them, their families, mothers and children.” When I see fleeing Gazans, who were complying with Israel’s order, get obliterated by an Israeli airstrike anyways. When I hear Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declare, “Gaza won’t return to what it was before. We will eliminate everything.”

The real victims of Israel’s retaliation are not Hamas militants. They are the more than 724 Palestinian children who have been killed in Gaza since last Saturday. They are the medical workers operating on bleeding babies as their hospitals are being missile-struck by the IDF. They are the fleeing Gazans — sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers — who are being decimated by Israeli rockets, both while trying to evacuate and even after reaching the ‘safe’ south. They are the journalists who are being slain as they seek to make the world see, hear, and stop yet another Palestinian massacre.

These actions evoke a long, tragic history of Palestinian displacement and destruction. I am reminded of the Nakba of 1948, when the Arab-Israeli War led to the expulsion of approximately 750,000 Palestinians from their homes. I am reminded of 1967, when more than 250,000 Palestinians fled the West Bank and Gaza during the Six-Day War. And I am reminded of the countless displacements since.

These events come to my mind because, somewhere along the way, my great-grandfather’s family was among the millions displaced. And now, 75 years later, it is my aunt’s family who is evacuating northern Gaza, fleeing their homes and running for their lives.

So, please, do not be fooled into thinking that this is just an Israeli incursion against Hamas. None of the 2,215 Palestinian civilians massacred thus far are responsible for the terrorism we witnessed last week. Their only crime was that they were born in a land that they could not fully claim, raised in a world that normalized their suffering. Their only mistake was that they lived in a region where decades of foreign intervention and disregard for human rights bred a minority extremism for which they all would be blamed. And because of these choices that they did not make, it will be them — innocent Palestinians — that suffer from Israel’s attacks on Gaza.

In no way, shape, or form are Palestinians the only ones that have been killed this week, nor are they the only ones with a history of bloodshed. Yet today, the significant power imbalance favoring the United States-backed Israeli government means that Israeli citizens inherently possess more protective measures, that their suffering will have a more defined end point.

Even some impacted in Israel recognize that power disparity. A brave Israeli survivor from the attack on Kibbutz Be’eri, Israel, explained that, “For me, it was over after 12 hours,” while “in Gaza, there are people for whom this event has not ended.” Historically, Palestinian death counts are disproportionately higher, and their unlawful killings, forced evictions, and arbitrary detentions will persist once global headlines move on.

I do not intend to sow division within our community during this fraught, heartbreaking time. The past week on campus has already been characterized by heightened anxiety, as evidenced by the doxxing of pro-Palestinian activists and students affiliated with such groups, who now face credible safety concerns. I myself feared writing this piece, and was advised not to by many people I trust.

But the world is now looking at Harvard as a new generation grapples with an age-old conflict. Over the past week, I have mourned alongside my Jewish and Israeli peers, and I have heard, read, and respected their many perspectives. In writing today, my intent is nothing more than to share my own perspective of the bloodshed that Palestinians are now facing, and to place this destruction in the context of a long history of subjugation. If we truly seek to end this endless violence, we must affirm the humanity and experiences of Israelis and Palestinians alike.

As countless more innocent Palestinians are slaughtered in the coming days, as their homes are obliterated yet again, their screams will reverberate among those of hundreds of thousands slain before them. I hope that the world will finally hear the harrowing echoes of their cries and realize that there is no justification.

Correction: October 17, 2023

A previous version of this article incorrectly said that an IDF soldier urged Israeli civilians to kill their Arab neighbors. In fact, the individual is an Israeli veteran.

Correction: October 18, 2023

A previous version of this article stated that 70 Gazan civilians following Israel’s evacuation order were killed by an Israeli airstrike. Following additional reporting that third parties could not verify the source of those munitions, the article has been updated to refer more broadly to Gazan civilians being killed by Israeli airstrikes after the evacuation order was issued.

Fawwaz Malki Shoukfeh ’24 is a History concentrator in Lowell House.

Editor’s Note: Readers should note that premoderation has been turned on for online commenting on this article out of concerns for student safety.

—Cara J. Chang, President

—Eleanor V. Wikstrom and Christina M. Xiao, Editorial Chairs