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Our recent editorial struck a deep chord with Independent readers.
In the piece, we argued that while Israel once had a moral case for self-defence after the horrors of 7 October 2023, the ongoing devastation in Gaza, with more than 52,000 Palestinians now dead and humanitarian aid cut off, has stripped away any justification for its relentless assault.
We called on Britain and the international community to break their silence and demand an end to the suffering.
Your responses have been powerful, impassioned and unequivocal. Across hundreds of comments, readers expressed solidarity with Gaza’s civilians, deep shame at complicity, and frustration at inaction.
We were moved to read your views, in which many of you reflected on your own lives, comparing your relative comfort to the desperation in Gaza. Some even shared personal histories of standing against injustice, whether as descendants of Holocaust survivors or as citizens alarmed by the cycle of violence being perpetuated.
What unites all your voices is a refusal to look away. Our readers overwhelmingly agree: silence is unacceptable.
Here’s what you had to say:
I feel guilty
I just read the article about the one-year-old girl starving in Gaza. I cannot rest. I have to write. Can I help that little girl survive?
As I write, it is the end of a beautiful day here in Somerset. I have enjoyed myself. I went to see my partner's 99-year-old mother on her birthday, and my app tells me I have walked nearly five miles in doing so (I no longer drive, so there is a lot of walking to do). When I got home, I felt I had earned a beer, so I drank one on my warm and sunny patio. Then I read your article about the little girl and felt guilty – there I was enjoying a relaxing beer when, a couple of thousand miles away, a one-year-old was crying for want of food and drink.
Halcionblue
When people remain silent, evil wins
I was in the hospital recently. I was placed on a ward along with very elderly people who would have been alive and witnessed and lived through WW2; one was old enough to have been in WW2. They were all cared for by the nursing staff, and I was wondering what their lives were like when they were young. The oldest, aged in their 100s, would have been the same age as my youngest child (20) is now when WW2 began. What has humanity learnt in the last 80 years? These elderly people live for their families to visit them. One called out for their family in their sleep. I was in hospital, aware that the NHS is a lifeline – vital and precious – and I am thankful for it, and so were these elderly patients on the ward I was on.
The nurses I saw were doing good, showing compassion and being kind. Humanity at its best, caring for another person. The world seems like it is on the brink, with monsters determined to push this world ever closer to the edge. People speak of other human beings with complete hatred, they drop bombs on other human beings, they kill innocent people because they either don't look like them, worship a God like they do or agree with them. All that suffering and killing gets is more violence, more killing – and why is this happening? Do the majority of human beings want to kill and starve other human beings? No, they don't. The majority of humanity wants to live in peace. We want a home for our families, safety. The majority of people want the exact same thing; we just want to live our lives without hurting anyone else.
JJAMMontoast
Why can’t we live in peace?
It's horrifying that Israel is allowed to continue to destroy a population that deserves our compassion and humanity. Pity the nation, remember those words by Robert Fisk for Lebanon. Pity Gaza.
Why can't we all live in peace and give instead of taking… lives, resources, land? When I visited the Holy Land in 1996, I met Israelis and Palestinians working towards a peaceful co-existence. They told me that their politicians don't want peace. Says it all. I also visited Gaza – a land full of kind Palestinians, hard-working doctors and energetic young children. Gaza was a terrible place to live in then; now it's hell on earth for these people.
Fiore2021
The cycle of violence
Defence is valid. The Hamas massacre that was the catalyst for this was just that – a massacre, murder, horrific and inexcusable. Israel had every right to defend itself and seek out the perpetrators. What is happening now, the Israeli response, the death of innocents, is vengeance. It is just wrong, by any measure.
Fr Dougal
Starmer must denounce the actions of Israel
I agree with the headline of this article. I am certainly not a Hamas supporter; however, what Israel is doing is unspeakable. Mr Starmer, you must denounce the actions of Israel.
Mikes
Heartbreaking
It is so heartbreaking to see what has happened in Gaza. The Palestinians have been treated with cruelty and indifference.
There are many decent Israelis who disagree with their government, and worldwide, the Jewish community that abhors what has happened and has come out in support of the Palestinian people. This support has been a light in the darkness.
Enough
But what can we do? I'm despairing and want to do something that will make a difference. We cannot continue to look away. Every life has the same value as another.
HAW
Beyond the pale
What's happening is beyond the pale, and has been for many months, if not years now. It's shocking that the international community is doing almost nothing about it.
BigDogSmallBrain
Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity. You can read all responses in full in the comments section of the original article here.
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