By In honor of today’s global strike day, we are presenting a translated list of the 9,411 Palestinian martyrs, documented earlier by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The global strike comes as a unanimous response after witnessing the U.S. using its veto power to impede the U.N.’s latest resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.
In a farsighted move marking its first time to be made since 2017, Secretary-General António Guterres invoked Article 99 of the U.N. Charter, urging the Council to “press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe” and unite in a call for a full humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Palestine, given that “nowhere in Gaza is safe.”
“I am writing under Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations to bring to the attention of the Security Council a matter which, in my opinion, may aggravate existing threats to the maintenance of international peace and security,” according to the letter. “More than eight weeks of hostilities in Gaza and Israel have created appalling human suffering, physical destruction and collective trauma across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
The resolution, backed by Arab states, faced strong opposition from the U.S., resulting in a vote of 13 in favor, and one against, with the U.K. abstaining.
U.S. Deputy Representative Robert Wood argued that the ceasefire resolution “will be possible only with the return of all the hostages and the destruction of Hamas.” This move echoes a previous U.S. veto on the U.N.’s earlier resolution for a humanitarian pause.
The Security Council’s failure to pass the resolution comes amidst escalating tensions and a dire humanitarian situation in Gaza as the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) intensify their ground operation backed by the U.S.
Palestinian journalists and content creators from across the world have been spreading the word since yesterday, Dec. 10 to support the global strike as a means of pressuring world leaders into supporting an immediate ceasefire.
“If the politicians do not hear us, then we can strike from economic life and daily movement and we can boycott everything,” Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda wrote. “We can put pressure on them to stop supporting and blessing the massacre that is happening in Gaza. Ceasefire now!”
This is not the first time Israel committed war crimes against Palestinians. On Feb. 6, 2021, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the International Criminal Court’s ruling granting jurisdiction to open a war crimes investigation against Israel. Netanyahu labeled the probe as “pure anti-Semitism” and vowed to fight against it, asserting that the ICC’s investigation into alleged war crimes was unfounded.
With over 18,000 Palestinians being martyred, and children and families displaced, we are here to say that Palestinians are more than just numbers. All human lives are sacred. And today, we are here to say that not fighting for innocent Palestinians is pure anti-Semitism.
Today’s purpose is to be mindful that the names on the list are not mere numbers that count as a consequence of war; they are families that have been entirely eradicated in the aftermath of the Israeli indiscriminate genocidal attacks.
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