This post originally appeared on LinkedIn in late May 2024*
*This post was written in response to the "All eyes on Rafa" campaign which featured an AI generated image to show the destruction of Gaza as a result of the Israel-Hamas war. The image went viral and was shared by thousands of people - including celebrities - who had largely remained silent (or in some cases, ridiculed or justified) Hamas's invasion and massacre of Israelis on October 7th. At the same time, there are multiple ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere that have caused horrific destruction, displacement and starvation, yet no one is protesting or calling for awareness. Instead, the scrutiny, blame, and complete lack of compassion is directed towards Israel. I want to be clear that my intention is not to disparage or minimize the suffering in Gaza. It's to highlight a double standard and an apparent global lack of empathy when it comes to the only Jewish-majority country in the world, especially when Hamas has shown no sympathy towards their own civilians, whom they use as human shields - a fact that pro-Palestinian activists seem to ignore.
All eyes on Rafa?
Where were your eyes on October 7th?
Where were your eyes when over 1,200 men women and children were brutally slaughtered?
Where were your eyes when hostages were kidnapped, when many are still being held prisoner and used as bargaining chips in a war that none of us wanted?
Where were your eyes when antisemitism skyrocketed globally, when people rallied to "globalize the intifada," when the legitimacy of our homeland is called into question? What other nation is continually asked to justify their existence?
Where were your eyes for virtually every other conflict and crisis over the past 20 years, from Syria to Somalia, Afghanistan to Yemen, Iran to Iraq? Why is Israel different?
Why are your eyes, your mouths, your hearts and your minds closed when Jews are dying, and you only open them when it comes to Israel's right to self-defense?
Unlike you, we are shattered over this bloodshed. We mourn the deaths of innocent civilians. We decry H*mas who use civilians as human shields and who have called for October 7 to happen again and again. We protest this endless war. We even protest the actions of our own government.
But you do not hear. You do not see. You bury our stories under denial enshrined in selective moral outrage. How nice for you, armchair activists. How brave.
Unlike you, our eyes are open. We have seen this before, we have been here before. And our memory is long.
We will never forget. Not now, not ever.
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