Over the past year pro-ceasefire demonstrations have kept alive the hope of peace with justice for Palestinians, and the return of hostages to Israel. These demonstrations featured many memorable placards and banners that captured the mood of solidarity and desperation.
A “Free Palestine” placard at a march in Geneva in December 2024 proclaimed: “I feel as useless as international law”. Another read “Dear world where is your humanity?” These placards sum up our feelings at the end of a year that saw global treaties designed to protect the basics of our common humanity routinely violated and made an instrument of propaganda in the cause of genocidal policies as Gaza was laid waste.
As 2024 came to a close, many people everywhere shared similar thoughts or reflections on the world-changing annus horribilis we had just lived through and underlined the need for continued resistance and solidarity in these troubling times.
Palestine is an open wound. The live-streaming of events in Gaza, and coverage of events in the West Bank and Lebanon, are a daily reminder of the banality of evil. So do reports from Sudan, Myanmar, Haiti, Ukraine and other sites of unacceptable suffering. Millions are obliged to flee war, climate change and societal collapse in what is, increasingly, a dangerous and unsuccessful search for safer shores.
European “deterrence by death” policies which use financial incentives to encourage neighbouring countries to deploy callous and often deadly measures to prevent people from reaching European shores negate our common humanity. Paraphrasing Oscar Wilde, the unspeakable continues to indulge in the unconscionable.
In 2024, every possible red line was crossed and international law flouted with abandon. The US and most of its Western allies that could block arms deliveries to Israel by the merchants of death and thus stop the inhumanity, or at least curtail it, remain complicit while wringing their hands with passionate intensity.
But the year also saw some glimmers of hope given the demise of the Assad regime in Syria, elections in Sri Lanka that heralded a new beginning for the country, and a historic political transition in Bangladesh under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhamad Yunus.
Perhaps 2025 will see long-overdue actions by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) that could result in meaningful change for Palestinians. Nothing is certain at the time of writing but there is reason to not despair and take a stand against a long list of atrocities, starvation, and slaughter, not to mention the systematic destruction of health facilities including patients, medical staff and basic infrastructure such as incubators for premature babies, operating theatres, ambulances and the like.
Solidarity, and meaningful action, come in many shapes and sizes. This past year has seen countless individual and networked initiatives geared to challenging the reality of deliberate harm and dehumanization. This includes engaging with elected representatives, folk with influence, our neighbours, and fellow marchers.
Opportunities exist to support and defend the flickering light of humanity
With specific reference to Palestine, there are numerous groups that fight for justice and peace for all from the river to the sea. For example Combatants for Peace, Breaking the Silence or human rights organizations such as B’Tselem.
And spare a thought for UNRWA. Its staff persist in the struggle to assist and help safeguard the lives of Palestinians trapped in the most deadly of circumstances. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking. The Knesset has passed laws that will make it impossible for UNRWA to continue its crucial life-saving work. This ban is set to come into effect at the end of January.
Diplomats and UN Member States have done little to overturn the Knesset decision. No time should be lost in advocating that UN bodies – and especially the UN General Assembly which established UNRWA in 1948 and is the only body that could legally close it down – and individual governments, demand an end to attacks on UNRWA and the lifeline it maintains for Palestinians in the occupied territories.
We all have an obligation to not give up on humanity! Indifference is complicity in evil.
PS… Oscar Wilde defined fox-hunting as: “The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable.”
About the Authors: Norah Niland and Antonio Donini are co-founders of UAI and Larry Minear is the former co-director of the Humanitarianism and War Project, Brown University.
The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of United Against Inhumanity (UAI).
