Ceasefire
Submitted by Ashley Yang
Alaska, USA
The call for a ceasefire in Gaza is not to take sides on a religious or political stance to say who is in the right or wrong but to call a stop to the bombings and killings of innocent civilians in Gaza, Palestine. Innocent, not just regarding the children and elderly but those who are like us — the ordinary civilians worrying about their day-to-day lives. The students in Palestine who were focusing on studying or fretting about their crushes. Parents who contemplate what to make for dinner the next day. Mailmen who look forward to passing out treats to their favorite dogs along their stops. The homeless, struggling and worrying about how to feed themselves and finding shelter. Workers, stressing and focusing on their work projects to appease their bosses. These are the ordinary and innocent people like us who are now being massacred over disagreements between foreign governments and policies. Ordinary, mundane, stable, comfortable lives now interrupted by the chaos of war and greed as the world watches.
The ongoing issue of war and greed has brought us full circle over and over again throughout history without fail to kill and forget, only for governments to shake hands and “make amends” after lives have already been taken. Tragedies are written down in the history books to “learn” from mistakes so that they are not repeated, though unfortunately, it seems that the congregation has not learned. There is a universal understanding that we all suffer, whether it be alone in silence or as a whole. Though as of now, at this moment, we all have a responsibility to join communities to speak up for the discontinuation of violence. We may not understand all the big words and policies of the law and foreign relations, but we can comprehend the fact that war will never resolve the issues. If we can see at least that much so can the governments, but of course that is enough. We as a whole must speak up, otherwise, we become a failure in this generation, as we had blamed worldly bystanders during World War Two.
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