It has been 684 days since the Israeli government began its campaign of bombings and destruction in Gaza, widely recognized as a genocide by human rights experts and millions around the world. The bombing and killing of civilians, destruction of homes, and starvation of the people, when 43% of Palestine's population is children under 18. Governments have the highest power of authority, yet governments decide to either speak out, stay silent, or support the side performing the genocide. People all over the world, including youth, are doing what they can to raise awareness by doing protests and speeches, and you can see many examples online of valedictorians in well-known schools raising awareness on the genocide and pushing their school to cut ties with Israel. This is a civic issue because it is a problem that threatens the life and rights of the Palestinian people.

We have watched this genocide progress, month by month, and it has reached such a state that everyone in the world is wondering why people are still being bombed and starved and there hasn’t been any progression forwards to protect them. I urge you to follow news sources like Al Jazeera and Middle East Eye providing uncensored coverage on what is happening in Gaza, if you had any doubts. If you have an X or Instagram account and program your algorithm to show you those suffering, it will break your heart, the things you will see, and imagine the severity of the thing they are seeing compared to what they show us. Watch this clip. Natasha Hausdorff says that "the UN reports have been consistently found to be wrong," and although I am waiting on what proof (and whether that means there are less deaths than accounted for or more) as of now 58,573 casualties have been reported (UN report). Reported, meaning there could be bodies buried under rubble that no one will ever know about. 17,921 of these people were children. 30% of those who died are so incredibly young, and 9,497 of them were women. In addition to that, that is not to account for the men who are desperate to protect their family and the elderly who have no choice but to witness everything. And the numbers are expected to rise. Tell me, why did those children die? If they were to go to court, under what counts would those 18,000 children have deserved murder? They are all "suspected" to be a part of Hamas, when Hamas is a militant group? Why are they still being killed? The graph of deaths and injuries since October 2023 show a steady increase. There is nothing being done to stop this. This is also not to omit the fact that Israelis are dying, too; 1,983 people and counting! Our people are starving. They are suffering so much, to a degree we cannot even imagine. There are videos online of a son holding his dead father's body while biking, children crying, pleading for food because they are so hungry. Young humans with tiny hands who are our responsibility to nurture and care for.

If you are having trouble visualizing ~59k people, Commonwealth stadium is the largest stadium in Canada (56,400 seats), and even that stadium would not be able to fit the amount of people who died in the genocide. If you have visited the Scotiabank Arena, imagine that x3 and that's how many people have died. Pull up a picture and visualize it yourself, please, to see the severity of this situation. Everyone is watching. I hope to bring this forward to the government; let's raise our voices together because we have the power of 8 billion people on our side. 

We urgently call on the Canadian government to take immediate and concrete steps to send humanitarian aid to Gaza, including essential food, clean water, medical supplies, and shelter. Not only that, we ask them to continue to put pressure on the blockades and do whatever possible to make sure that the aid is entered and distributed. We ask that Canada recognizes the severity of the situation and actively supports and coordinates with international organizations to ensure aid reaches those who need it most without delay. Furthermore, we urge the government to use its diplomatic influence to facilitate safe passage for aid workers and protect civilians caught in the crisis. Immediate and sustained humanitarian assistance is essential to save lives and alleviate suffering.

One final request: to those reading, do our people in Palestine a favor and watch them. Listen to them. They deserve that, of all things.