By Ranjan Solomon
In one of his final gestures of compassion, Pope Francis requested that the Popemobile he used in Bethlehem in 2014 be repurposed into a mobile health clinic for Gaza’s children. The refitted vehicle—now equipped for frontline medical care—is ready, waiting for humanitarian access to Gaza to be restored.
Francis has long spoken against the cruelty of war, especially in occupied Palestine. At a May audience in St. Peter’s Square, he called for “dignified humanitarian aid and an end to hostilities, whose heartbreaking price is paid by children, the elderly and the sick.” His words urge the world not to forget Gaza—even as other wars dominate headlines.
But what hope can there be for Gaza, reduced to rubble? An article in Mondoweiss gives insight: “Our resilience isn’t a choice.” Palestinians did not choose war. But war was forced on them—and so they survive, and they resist. In Palestine, one often hears the word ‘aadi’—Arabic for “it’s fine” or “normal.” It’s not acceptance. It’s a survival code, a refusal to be broken.
This spirit of resilience—sumūd—is central to the theology of Munther Isaac, a Palestinian Christian pastor. In his book Christ in the Rubble, Isaac rejects passive hope. True hope, he writes, is defiant. It refuses to cede the future to violence and injustice. Isaac asserts that God is not absent from the ruins of Gaza, but present in the suffering of its people. He calls on the global church to renounce Christian Zionism and instead side with justice, peace, and nonviolence.
Meanwhile, Israel continues its assault on morality and legality. With each passing month, its economy falters. According to Le Monde, growth has collapsed—from 6.5% in 2022 to 2% in 2023, and is expected to fall further to just 1.1% in 2024. Labour shortages, inflation, and stagnation are taking root. The cost of occupation is being felt at home—even as bombs fall on Gaza.
Yet Israel continues its deadly apartheid regime. It kills and destroys with impunity, showing utter disregard for international law. Successive Israeli leaders—from Netanyahu to his so-called critics—have built settlements, razed institutions, and buried peace under rubble. They have made Israel a pariah.
Palestine Updates has always maintained: Israel understands only isolation. The international community must act with moral courage. That means:
- Suspending trade and investments
- Ending arms transfers
- Enforcing UN resolutions
- Demanding Israel’s suspension from the United Nations
To do less is to be complicit. Words are not enough. Condemnation is not enough. The blood of Gaza’s children demands more.The Zionist project is crumbling. Netanyahu may shoulder the blame, but this is a collective failure of international accountability. Still, Palestinians persist—with hope not as fantasy, but as rebellion.
In the words of Elie Wiesel: “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”
Ranjan Solomon has been engaged in the Palestinian liberation struggle since the First Intifada in 1987. Over the decades, he has witnessed the crisis unfold firsthand through multiple visits to Gaza, the West Bank, and within Israel, where he has stood in solidarity with peace movements.
5 July 2025
Source: countercurrents.org