Wars are always tragedies, the wars of today are tragedies experienced live. Technology leaves no room for imagination, it is real-time images that give us the enormous measure of violence and suffering. Together with shocking videos and photos, they are struck by the facts and numbers that nothing and no one can stop. Facts and numbers that are not just words and figures but concern the real situation of a destroyed and wounded humanity.
These days Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adhā, the Feast of Sacrifice, which commemorates the sacrifice asked by God of Abraham. They are days of joy because the profound faith of Abraham is celebrated as he is stopped while he is about to sacrifice his only son. These are days of celebration in which communities of other religions exchange wishes for peace and every blessing because peaceful coexistence is possible. They are days of joy that families celebrate together, eating traditional foods, in illuminated and colorful gardens, in festively decorated houses, days in which gifts are offered and new clothes are bought for the big occasion. Unfortunately in these days the Feast of Sacrifice reflects in his name the sacrifice and suffering of many families who will not be able to reunite because many members have died. Children do not play happily in the gardens but look for safe and sheltered places because the houses are destroyed, they do not wait for gifts and new clothes but try to survive illnesses, hunger, thirst and heat.
I am most affected by the suffering of children because it is always the defenseless and guiltless who suffer the consequences of war.
There are more than 15,000 children killed, not counting those still left under the rubble. Before October 7, children in Gaza with serious illnesses managed to survive and find medicines thanks to international aid, the same medicines that have now been stopped across the border and just a few meters away from those who need them so much.
Surgical operations are performed in the few semi-destroyed hospitals: at least a thousand children have undergone amputations without anesthesia.
It hurts to think that just a few kilometers away from me, there are 50,000 children suffering from malnutrition.
The psychological damage is enormous and affects almost a million minors.
The acronym Wcnsf (Wounded child no surviving family), that is, wounded child without surviving family, was created to identify children in Gaza who were orphaned, injured and without the love and comfort of their family.
A few days ago, on June 12, the international community celebrated the World Day against Child Labor. In Gaza and Palestine, thousands of children have become heads of families following the death or arrest of their parents.
Children who, instead of growing up carefree, suddenly became adults to feed themselves and support their families in difficulty and poverty.
For the children who are no longer here and for all those who suffer in the world, we ask Almighty God for the gift of peace.
We look at peace as the mustard seed mentioned in the parable in the Gospel of Mark, proclaimed on the eleventh Sunday of ordinary time and as Pope Francis reminded us at the Angelus, God is in our life like that very small seed: it is up to us the task of sowing, of doing it with care and attention, of waiting with confidence for it to sprout even when it seems that the arid soil does not bear fruit.
It will be the presence of God in our lives that will give us the hope and certainty that peace will flourish! (ibrahim faltas)
Of Ibrahim Faltas
