Lessons from my Grandfather – Blog

Lessons from my Grandfather

by Dr. Toni Pyke

 

 

We recently celebrated 80 years since VE (Victory in Europe) Day. My grandfather fought for the allies during WW2 with the Royal Air Force. His brothers who were in the army and navy were Prisoners of War. Growing up, grandad would tell us stories of their wartime experiences and together we would watch black and white movies on BBC2 on Saturday afternoons that would verify his reports. We would also watch documentaries and films about the horrors of the experiences of the world’s Jewish population during this time. I could never understand why or how such despicable atrocities could be undertaken and why no-one would speak out against it. How could the world allow and facilitate the cruel extermination of a population and not act to stop it.  

That is, until now. While I still don’t understand the why, I do see the how. 

I lay awake most of last night troubled by the sights and sounds of the suffering of the children in Gaza. I prayed. I focused on my breath. But try as I might, the cries and images were overwhelming, and I could not fall back to sleep. 

Across various social media platforms, there is compelling documented evidence of the systematic persecution, torture and massacre of Palestinian children, women and men. And since March 2nd, we can add forced famine to this litany of oppression. And all the while, the world is watching. And says and does nothing. You’d be hard pressed to find any reference to this suffering across the traditional mass media. 

Yet, as one listens to doctors from around the world who have given their professional skills and time to try to help save the lives of children a very different reality is exposed. They report responding to children in Gaza that have been shot, or had limbs severed from shrapnel resulting from the relentless bombing that targets, with perfect precision, their refugee camps, tents, schools or medical facilities. One wonders which of these children are reportedly ‘Hamas’? 

While I despair it has taken the UN system so long to react, I thank the Director of the WHO, Dr. Mike Ryan for his recent public statement calling out such atrocities. He states: “We are complicit. We are causing this. You and everyone who does nothing about it.” And Dr Mike illustrates the reason why I find it difficult to sleep at night: “… I’m angry with myself that I’m not doing enough, I’m angry with everyone here, I’m angry with you, I’m angry with the world.” 

I recently watched in horror a video of Israeli soldiers celebrating a ‘gender reveal’ by bombing a Palestinian residential building in Gaza and using the explosion’s coloured smoke to announce a baby’s gender. This is an all-time new low in the normalising of an active genocide. 

What is happening in Gaza is not ‘normal’. The images that we see across the various media spaces are of emaciated children, not unlike those I saw in the documentaries that I used to watch with my grandfather, almost all of which ended with ‘never again’.  The intentional blocking of food, water, essential medical and humanitarian supplies from entering Gaza by the Israeli government is a crime against humanity, a blatant disregard for international law and flouting of the responsibilities of an occupying power. It is happening again.  

If we are to explore the 10 Stages of Genocide by Gregory Stanton, we are currently in Stage 9: Extermination. The next stage is the final stage: Denial, a “stage that lasts throughout and always follows genocide.” The screenplay for what happens next was written long ago. British journalist and newspaper columnist Owen Jones challenges and reminds us by saying that “Palestine is the litmus test of our age… a crime of historic proportions…For the West, this is the sowing. The coming harvest will be bitter…we’re not gonna get away with this”. 

 

What you can do right now

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” (Anne Frank) 

See and feel. The suffering is real. The reports, images, cries and pleas are from children and women – human beings – trying to survive and fathers trying to protect and provide for their family. Be reminded of the promises that were made to the world, that what happened during WW2 would ‘never happen again’. To anyone, anywhere. Subsequent to the atrocities suffered by the Jewish population across Europe, international structures were put in place to prevent the decimation of a people in the future. Let us all be horrified by the atrocities happening today in Gaza, and other countries across the globe and demand that those violating international law be made aware of the consequences of their actions. 

UNICEF Global Spokesperson James Elder asks: “So many children killed… so many childhoods shattered…Protecting children was once a basic moral value. That value has collapsed…what are we living through?…Silence normalises”. He challenges us to ensure that the voices of the children of Gaza are heard: “And so, we keep speaking and shouting and sharing. Share with those who shrug. So, share with those who disagree. Share with those who dismiss, or somehow justify the killing of children. Let them explain.” Let us not be silent. 

Many of you may have witnessed the peaceful surrender of Dr. Abu Safiya after IDF soldiers raided Kamal Adwan hospital in Mashrou’ Beit Lahiya where he was director and paediatrician. Dr Safiya remains in detention without any charge or fair trial and according to his legal counsel there are clear signs of physical abuse on his body. The Rights Forum have nominated Dr Safiya for the Nobel Peace Prize. If you wanted to support this proposal, you can sign your name on their website HERE. 

Recently, prominent peace activist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Mairead Corrigan McGuire undertook a 40-day fast and prayer vigil for peace and an end to the extreme suffering of children in Gaza. A petition has been set up to support Mairead’s 40-Day fast for Palestinian Children and World Peace. If you would like to add your voice and action to Mairead’s, you can sign the petition HERE. 

Throughout the ‘war’ in Gaza, the late Pope Francis would call Father Gabriel Romanelli at Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza nightly to check in on the well-being of the people sheltering at the small parish. The Pope would ask: “What can I do for you? What more can I do for you?” We must ask ourselves the same question. What more can we do?  

I used to love listening to my grandfather telling stories of fixing planes in the deserts of North Africa. He would recount stories of glory and friendship and camaraderie as he travelled across the continents during the war. But as I recall those days with my grandfather, I think also about the pain, suffering and the years lost. The friends gone. The childhoods damaged. The poverty and hunger. The needlessness of it all. Throughout the war in Ukraine and Gaza, Pope Francis spoke out about the injustices and futility of war: “From every land, let a single voice rise: no to war, no to violence, yes to dialogue, yes to peace! In war, there are no winners. The only way to win a war is not to wage it.” Our silence is consent. 

Watch a video from palsforpalestine_ireland on Instagram HERE

 

The perspectives articulated in these blogposts are personal and do not necessarily represent the views of AMRI and its members.