The world’s most famous diary undoubtedly belongs to the late Anne Frank. It is renowned worldwide for its author’s nuanced outtake on life and depiction of her life in hiding during the Nazi persecution of Jews. Its impact on the world cannot be denied. Reading Anne’s diary is poignant knowing what horrible fate awaits her.
One asks oneself did a soul like her deserve to go through such a terrible fate? Anne was at least able to share her outlook with the world in the form of her diary, giving the world a sense of the horror of war inflicted on people like her; but what about innocent countless souls with unsung stories of suffering and pain?
The most recent example is the death of children in Israel-Palestine conflict with 33 children killed by Hamas attack on Israel and almost over 10,000 Palestinian children were killed by Israel as per the report of Euro-Med Human Rights monitor. It is further estimated by Euro-Med that between 24000 and 25000 children lost one or both parents.
There is no stopping here as almost 100 children per day are being killed by Israeli forces. Many more were wounded, displaced and traumatized with the majority of surviving children suffering from PTSD due to war trauma. Even before the current wave of violence 4 out of 5 children reported that they had experienced depression, fear, and sadness. One could only expect what would be the state of Palestinian children after this genocide.
There is no future for surviving children as 217 schools in the Gaza Strip are destroyed by Israeli attacks. Their educational system has collapsed. They are on the brink of starvation and death as they are getting only one meal per day. Other than war injuries they are at risk of epidemic diseases due to lack of pure drinking water, health facilities, and sanitary conditions in overcrowded shelter centers. Israel is disrespecting Jewish Holocaust victims by carrying this genocide of the Gaza people.
This miserable situation raises some serious questions: Does any child deserve to go through what war inflicts upon them if they do so what is their fault? Does authority and people in power know what their actions cost ordinary citizens, especially innocent children? How do their lives change in a matter of seconds? So many children died in the recent Israel-Palestine conflict. Does anyone know their name and their suffering beyond the apparent surface? No, we just count the bodies we don’t get lessons from them.
It is easy to start a War from the comfort of power but it is hard and painful to be a victim of those wars. Not every child has a diary to tell the world that its life matters. With a history like ours, the world should be sensible by now that what Anne and countless children suffered through their conflict should never happen to anyone ever again.