It is vital to honor history when speaking of such a contentious topic as Israel and Palestine; that is of course, history of an earlier time and of a more recent time. The proportion of death must come into play, especially in an evaluation of arguably the most complicated conflict humanity has ever seen. From 2008 up until just before October 7, it is estimated that there have been around 6,400 deaths in what is left of Palestine (Gaza and the West Bank), while 300 have died in Israel. For a conflict to reach the escalation of being a ‘war,’ it seems that the two opposing sides would have to be equally equipped, likely resulting in somewhat of a similar amount of deaths in Israel as in Palestine. As Israel deploys air strikes across the Gaza Strip, it is evident there is no equality of arms. While Israel receives continuous military support from the U.S., Gazans struggle to find clean drinking water. As Benjamin Netanyahu pushes President Biden for additional modern weaponry, Gazans wait with bated breath, wondering when the next time their home will be bombed. 

With all that being said, it is fair to say opposing sides do not necessarily have to be considered ‘equal’ to coin current geopolitical situations as ‘war.’ The Hamas attacks on October 7 killed 1,200 Israelis, yet Israel’s response killed over 16,000 Palestinians, and counting. Since Israel has the capability to respond in such a manner, it is clear that, when talking about potential in the use of arms, Israel has the clear advantage. When asked to speak on the subject, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said “It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation…  And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.” This collective punishment that Guterres speaks of is a clear violation of laws of war, showing the unlimited capability of the Israeli state, which shows no signs of letting up. How can a cleansing of a people, who show no proven relation to the attacks of October 7, be justifiable in any way? 

Again, when it comes to arms, soldiers, or other necessities for war, the United States supplies Israel in a completely unconditional and unrestricted fashion. As America continues to supply and Israel continues to bomb, the Palestinian people seem to be of little consideration. To many Palestinians, Hamas is seen as a form of resistance, as something to combat the weekly bombing and blockade they are born into. What moral grounds do we Americans have in criticizing Palestinians for fighting back? Were we born into a strip where we get notices before our house is bombed? Where the peaceful protests of 2018 were met with bullets? 

Throughout October, as horrific news spread throughout America, I found myself walking back from class, approaching a stand with an Israeli flag draped over the table, a sign stating "all purchases go toward Israel.” It felt necessary to ask the few individuals present: What further funding could Israel need? They replied: “The IDF soldiers need vests; buying a bagel will help buy a vest.” I went on: “How is this helping anything?” They promptly ended the conversation: "We don’t want to get into the politics.” 

Walking away, I wondered why the difference in death was not clear to them. Is the inexplicable continuous murder of thousands of innocent civilians politics? Is it not obvious that it is the Palestinians, the people of the blockaded Gaza, who are unable to leave, who need help? Not the soldiers of the unjustifiable U.S.-backed military of Israel? The ones who continue to launch a ground invasion under the unexplainable reasoning of ‘destroying Hamas?’ As if that is something that they thought could be done without the mass deaths of innocent Palestinian children, doctors, and journalists? No, the funding couldn't possibly be going to them, I thought.  

In front of hundreds of candles, while Palestinian students read out the names of their lost loved ones, counting the fatalities, desperately attempting not to diminish but rather value their lives, others tallied money made for the IDF. There has never been a greater absence of compassion for human life. The world must demand a ceasefire.