RUBIN-STANKIEWICZ: Ceasefire now: We cannot ignore what is happening in Gaza
Column: Rutgers Realities
I want to preface this by saying that it is OK if you cannot read this article or have to turn away from the news in order to function amidst the horror, grief and powerlessness. That being said, we, as a society, cannot collectively turn a blind eye to what is happening in Gaza.
At the time of publishing, more than 9,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, and approximately 1,400 Israelis have been killed since October 7.
Hamas' coordinated attack and murder of 1,400 Israelis on October 7 is inexcusable and cannot be justified. There is also no justification for retaliating through collective punishment and murdering more than 9,000 Palestinians, approximately 40 percent of whom are children, a death count that will only continue to rise.
Palestinian lives are not disposable, and under the watching eyes of the world, it is morally reprehensible that the deaths and mass displacement of Palestinians have been allowed and treated as something inevitable.
We need to do everything possible to prevent the killing, maiming, capture and displacement of more Israelis and Palestinians. The U.S. must call for an immediate ceasefire in order to discontinue escalating violence.
A ceasefire is the first step to ensure that the basic humanitarian aid necessary for survival reaches Gazans and that channels of communication are opened to demand the release of more than 240 Israeli hostages. It also is a measure to try to prevent other actors from joining the war, turning it into a regional conflict.
Additionally, calling for a ceasefire or centering Palestinian perspectives should not elicit charges of anti-Semitism. I am far from the only Jew calling for a ceasefire. My mom and her family emigrated to Israel from Russia, and I have family who were born, raised and still live in Israel.
We can "mourn for the dead" and "fight like hell for the living," to use the words of IfNotNow, an organization of American Jews, who say the organization stands to "end U.S. support for Israel's apartheid system and demand equality, justice and a thriving future for all."
There is no time to waste. Save the Children estimated that a child dies in Gaza every 10 minutes. More than 3,600 Palestinian children have been killed by Israeli forces, not even accounting for the approximately 1,000 Palestinian children reported missing and assumed to be most likely dead.
This degree of suffering and destruction in Gaza cannot possibly be summed up by any of the statistics included above. Entire families have been wiped out by Israeli airstrikes. Palestinian aid agencies and journalists desperately post on social media about how many of their colleagues have been killed and how many they are unable to reach.
The tide is very slowly turning. On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that he would push the Israeli government for brief humanitarian pauses in conflict.
But this is not enough, and there is no time to wait when the situation intensifies and worsens hourly.
Urge your representatives to support the resolution that would urge President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s administration to "immediately call for and facilitate de-escalation and a ceasefire to urgently end the current violence," as well as to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The resolution currently has 18 House congressional sponsors but none in the Senate.
To be clear, a ceasefire is a temporary and tentative measure. It does not equate to justice for any party involved, and it can be broken, as it has been in the past. But the priority right now must be preserving human life, which is impossible to do during this period of rapid warfare escalation.
Many public officials, including UN leaders, Malala Yousafzai and Pope Francis, along with leading human rights organizations, such as Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International, Save the Children and The Carter Center, have called publicly for a ceasefire.
It is during a time of war that the value of upholding human rights must be protected most because that is when the worst atrocities are justified — in the name of defense.
Now is a pivotal time for action. The U.S. is considering competing packages in the Senate and House of Representatives, both of which would deliver approximately $14.3 billion in military funding for Israel.
This weekend, there will be a number of protests across the U.S., including what is expected to be the biggest march for Palestinian solidarity in U.S. history on Saturday.
Contact your representatives and call for a ceasefire. There is no time to waste.
Raisa Rubin-Stankiewicz is a senior in the School of Arts and Sciences majoring in political science and minoring in psychology. Her column, "Rutgers Realities," runs on alternate Thursdays.
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