Free Gaza

This morning, I listened to a story about 7 humanitarian aid workers who were killed in Gaza as they were delivering more than 100 tons of food aid to displaced Palestinians. The workers were from World Central Kitchen, many of whom were foreigners volunteering amidst recent chaos. Organizers of the humanitarian aid mission ensured previous authorization of the aid transfer with the Israeli army prior to the incident, although such assurance did not matter in the end. 

This story is devastating. It is devastating that we are living in a world where humans trying to provide essential aid and care are killed, while those who are dropping bombs and authorizing missles are protected. It is devastating that so many efforts to sustain anything reminiscent of a lifeline in Gaza are being thwarted to the most violent extreme. 

Current figures place the loss of life in Gaza to at least and still counting 32,845 people. This does not include the over 75,300 people injured and 8,000 people missing. This does not include those killed in the West Bank, nor does it include those killed before October 7th, 2023. 

In addition to the loss of life in Gaza, the destruction of any potential for livelihood grows slimmer by the day. More than half of the homes in Gaza are rubble. Almost 400 educational facilities have been destroyed, and only around 10 hospitals are partially functional. In addition, 83% of Gaza’s groundwells have been destroyed or deemed unfunctional. Access to medical care grows increasingly dire while starvation, thirst, and injury, and fatality are grossly exacerbated. 

It is difficult not to feel powerless right now, but I do not believe in staying silent. I believe that Social Work should be informed by social justice, ethics, and human rights, and that starts with social workers choosing not to be complicit or silent. 

The UN defines genocide as follows: 

“In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: 

1. Killing members of the group; 
2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; 
4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.” 

All five of these acts have been committed and are happening right now. Most of Gaza has been leveled, including hospitals, schools, churches, mosques, residential spaces, and refugee camps. Entire generations of Palestinians have been murdered in one strike, leaving family members and children completely orphaned. The most vulnerable in Gaza, including children, pregnant folks, disabled folks, and the elderly, have little to no refuge or relief. 

Social work students, institutions, and organizations should not only be ensuring the transparency and record of these atrocities, but should be doing everything they can to elevate the call for lasting humanitarian relief in Gaza. Palestinians deserve a right to live, just as we do here. 

If you are interested in learning more about actions, organizing, or would like to have a conversation, please reach out to me: shareen@live.unc.edu