UK still won't call for ceasefire during Gaza blackout

This is because they support what is happening in the darkness

Ordinarily, I use satire even when tackling the darkest of subjects, not to mock the people who suffer but to expose the people who cause the suffering. Today, however, as we sit in the sickening silence of the Israel-imposed blackout, viewing footage of the Gaza skyline ablaze, I simply cannot write anything that resembles humour.

Historically, satire has been a powerful tool to expose the hypocrisies of the worst of humanity and provide a voice to their victims, but today I can't bring myself to do satire. Today is too bleak. Instead, I'm going to report accurately on what's happening, not because I have any special insight, but because if I don't speak out, I will be complicit in unimaginable horror.

Israel has cut off telecommunications in Gaza to give itself cover for genocide. This is the same reason Joe Biden has cast doubt on the Palestinian death toll.

Those victims have been named, or at least the ones who've been identified so far have. To deny their deaths is no better than denying the holocaust, and you can only disagree if you think Palestinian lives are less valuable than Jewish lives.

Bombs have been falling through the night at a much higher rate than before and jets have been flying over a population that doesn't have any means to defend itself. Only Israel has a right to defend itself.

Remember, Israel dropped more bombs in one week than the US did on Afghanistan in one year. Afghanistan is a huge country. Gaza is a tiny strip of land.

Prior to last night, an estimated 20% of buildings in Gaza city had been destroyed. The bombing rate is now higher than ever and the screams of children with no prospect of rescue can be heard coming from the rubble.

Israel has released another fake audio recording, with the wrong accents and obviously scripted dialogue, to justify bombing Gaza's biggest hospital. They claim Hamas' HQ is hidden beneath in tunnels. The BBC are writing their fact-check blaming a stray Hamas rocket as I type.

The Hamas base may or may not be located where Israel says it is. This doesn't matter. Nor does it matter that Israel has ordered an evacuation of the hospital. You don't get to blow up "human shields" who are too sick to leave in the hope of killing your enemies.

If Israel really knew where the Hamas base was located it would send in the troops. No hospital patient needs to be harmed. Sadly, it seems clear the Israeli government doesn't care about civilians; not Palestinians nor Israelis.

They say the bombing can stop when the hostages are released. This logic falls apart on so many levels, not least that bombing the hostage takers would kill the hostages too.

Then there is the fact Israel has taken every civilian in Gaza hostage and is killing those hostages by the thousands, including some of its own citizens, including journalists and UN relief workers, until Hamas does as it’s told.

You don't fight terrorism with terrorism. Calling human beings "human shields" does not justify blowing them up. If anything it makes it worse because you knew they were there and you made a conscious decision to kill them.

When this genocide is over, the death toll is surely going to be in the tens of thousands. Do not be surprised if it’s in the hundreds of thousands. Do not be surprised if not a single person is left in northern Gaza. God, I hope I'm wrong. I hope I'm badly wrong, but I fear I'm not.

Assuming this genocide doesn't escalate into World War III (an optimistic assumption), expect our media to make excuses when the massacre is over, to cast doubt about the death toll, to do absurd fact checks and blame everyone but themselves.

Expect people to say: "I didn't fully agree with this, but there was no other way," as though genocide is acceptable if you can't figure out a way to not do genocide. Expect them to blame objectors for "supporting Hamas" like those who opposed genocide are the real problem. Expect them to use all kinds of smears and excuses. Just don't forget who they are and don't let them forget what they supported. The mask can never be put back on.

Right now, I feel dazed and bewildered to find myself in a country where the establishment so unflinchingly supports such monstrous evil. I can't feel anger or hatred though. The only thing I can feel is a constant sense of sickness and disbelief at how we let such people be in charge.

All I know is I will never forgive the bastards. I will never vote for the politicians who supported this. I will never trust the media that provided the PR. They are fascists. There is no other word for them.

Right now, I'm thinking of the people in Gaza who are going to sleep each night not knowing if they are going to wake up. Not knowing if their entire people are being exterminated or forcibly displaced. Not knowing if life can ever be the same again.

I'm thinking of their family members abroad, like Humza Yousaf, who are going through the most unbearable torment. I'm thinking of all the people who've lost loved ones in Israel and Palestine, and I'm thinking of all those who've suffered terrible injuries. None of this need have happened.

I'm thinking of all the people who saw their hope for peace stolen by a smear campaign that branded anyone who opposed a genocidal regime as anti-Semites because those smears had far reaching consequences.

I'm thinking of the staff who work for the BBC who are crying in the toilets as their employer lies to the nation. I'm thinking of the British Muslims who are being spoken about as the "enemy within" their own country. I'm thinking of the people who marched for a ceasefire only to be called terrorist supporters.

Just know there are more of us than them. Over 3/4 of the people in this country support an immediate ceasefire. The people in charge are extremists and it's our job to stand up to them and make sure fascists like this never get in power again.

If we stand by them, not only are we complicit in this genocide but any future atrocities our government supports. It's not good enough to say we are better. We have to choose better.