A Necessary Apology
by: Khalil Abu Shammaleh – Gaza, palestine
Confronted by scenes of burning and mass killing of innocent children, women, girls, youth, and men; by destruction beyond human imagination; by the international community’s inability to assist the children of Gaza and their people; by this most inhumane of atrocities, I apologize. For the last 25 years I have upheld the values and principles of human rights that underpin my field, believing such principles to be equally respected by governments, or at the very least to possess such moral sway as to transcend politics and protect the innocent when the time comes to free them from injustice, to put an end to the senseless, premeditated killing in cold blood.
The widespread killings and destruction of life in Gaza will remain a mark of shame upon the heads of the international community. I am convinced that this shall be a cause for shame for every official in international institutions; the feeling shall haunt them every time they look at themselves in the mirror. I confess that I was naive in thinking that the law would always prevail. Events have shown that reality is more telling than the story. It is the law of the jungle that governs this unjust world.
You’ve stabbed us in our consciences and feelings while we escape from the eyes of our children, who ask us: ‘Didn’t you tell us that international law stands with the oppressed, and that the Fourth Geneva Convention obliges states to protect people in times of war? Didn’t you tell us about the rights of the child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, all whilst we see children and women torn apart by missiles weighing tonnes?
This world is not for us, Gaza, and it seems that international law has no place written for us. I apologize to my children, Noor, Mohammed, and Nesma, to my friends and colleagues advocating for human rights principles, and to every child, woman, and man who fell victim in Gaza. I have not found an answer to their questions at this time, and I don’t believe there will be one in the future. I apologize to all those who have left, to whom I have spoken of the principles of human rights, and for whom I could not find a place as they were being slaughtered into pieces .
I was mistaken.
