Commentary by Mustafa K. Anuar

“ENOUGH is enough!” American protesters and social media influencers cried, in protest of Israel’s relentless massive killings in Gaza that has left 9,000 Palestinians dead. And we’re still counting.

This is Israel’s disproportionate response to Hamas’ deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7 that resulted in 1,400 Israelis being killed and over 240 taken captive by the militant group.

The continuing massacre of the Gazans, particularly innocent children and women, appears to suggest that it is not easy to please the Zionist regime nor would it be unproblematic to prick its conscience, if any. Enough isn’t enough, yet.

Such an uncontrolled appetite for killing is reflected in the images of little children slain under the torrents of bombs, while others helplessly cried in pain after being covered with what looked like the banned white phosphorus. 

Hospitals, UN shelters, refugee camps and houses of worship, let alone residential complexes, are no safe havens when Israel exercises its “right to self-defence”. No stone is left unturned.

It doesn’t seem to bother the Zionists and their apologists the sight of children writing their names on their lower arms in the hope that their surviving parents or next of kin could identify them from what is left of their dismembered bodies after being hit by bombs.

Such scenes – that have gone viral – have instead tugged at the heartstrings of those who believe that the kids and the rest of Gazans do not deserve to be treated in a subhuman manner, robbed of their dignity and human rights.

Like the rest in the besieged Gaza, which is akin to a concentration camp, the children, in a sense, await their “turn” to die. Tomorrow or the next minute may never come.

There are also other children who have died after being deprived of essential water, food and medical care – as well as an otherwise bright and fulfilling future. Perhaps, one could argue that living precariously under such conditions is fate worse than death. 

When is enough, enough? This should also be asked of the United States and its Western allies who have given unqualified moral and material support to the apartheid state. Any complicity in this heinous project is unconscionable, to say the least. 

How many more Palestinians have to be slaughtered before a collective action is taken by “the international community” to stop this madness? Is there still precious time to look the other way?

Unlike the Western governments, thousands of their citizens feel that time is of the essence in halting further human carnage in the crowded Gaza Strip.

That is why the conscientious ordinary people in the West have bravely taken to the streets to protest against the Gazan mayhem, often at the risk of reprisals from government institutions and private corporations.

Protesters face the risk of job loss, no prospects of getting employment after graduation or criminal charges, to name a few.

Some 300 Jewish Americans and friends, shouting “Not in our name”, were arrested after they marched on the Capitol Hill to demand a ceasefire in Gaza.

Those opposed to the warring actions of the Zionist regime were accused of being antisemitic, which is erroneous as the protesters insisted that the recalcitrant state did not represent all Jews.

In the Western world where freedom of speech and assembly is supposedly valued, certain European countries have imposed a ban on street demonstrations that cry for “Free Palestine!” and an end to bloodshed. 

So, when is enough, enough? This question must be repeatedly asked in the face of people who have blood on their hands. – November 4, 2023.