In the shattered echoes of the world’s conscience, I never thought I’d witness the day when the sanctity of life would be so callously disregarded. A day where the hallowed halls of hospitals, the fragile sanctuaries of refugee camps, and the sacred spaces of worship would be violated by the horrors of war. I never thought I’d witness the day where the innocent, the most vulnerable, are left to perish in the crucible of conflict, where the perpetrators of such atrocities cloak themselves in the guise of righteousness.

I stand witness to the unfathomable, where the cries of babies in incubators are drowned out by the deafening silence of indifference, where their murderers are shielded by the veneer of democracy, while their grieving parents are unjustly branded as terrorists. I never thought I’d witness the day when the hypocrisy of nations would cast such a dark shadow over the world, when the blood of millions would be spilled in the name of power and control.

In the annals of history, I never thought I’d witness the day when one country would arrogate to itself the right to dictate the fate of entire nations, to sow the seeds of destruction in the cradle of civilization. A country that has wielded its alliances as weapons, forging a path of devastation across the Middle East. And yet, in the corridors of power, it has become painfully clear that the strings of governance are being pulled by a foreign state, a puppet master orchestrating the tragedies that unfold.

I believed in the solemn vow of “never again,” but it seems that promise is but a hollow echo, a mere whisper in the winds of injustice. It appears that “never again” applies only to some, and not to others. The world’s gaze averts from the suffering of Muslim, Arab, and Middle Eastern lives, as if their pain is somehow less deserving of compassion and empathy.

In the face of such harrowing truths, I bear witness to the resilience of those who refuse to be silenced, who raise their voices against the tide of oppression. I stand in solidarity with those who refuse to succumb to the darkness, who carry the torch of hope through the long night of injustice. And I hold fast to the belief that in the collective outcry against such injustices, there lies the seed of change, the promise of a world where “never again” truly means never again for all.

Copyright © Beatriz Esmer