To The Editor of the JUST Commentary.
If I may comment on the article on Hind Rajab published on the JUST website on the 4th of February 2026.
The article by Haida Dzulkifli raises a fundamental question : why could not anyone save young Hind Rajab? The simple answer is, Israel as the Occupying power has total control over the lives of all Palestinians, including little girls trapped in a car that had been bombarded by Israeli soldiers earlier in the day.
In fact, Hind Rajab as an event epitomizes the tragedy that faces Palestinians today. It is a metaphor of the reality that confronts them as a people who have been under illegal Israeli Occupation for the last 78 years. They are killed every day, as Hind’s family were slaughtered that day. They were innocent, unarmed civilians. Hind herself did not die at the same time as her relatives who were murdered by perhaps the same soldiers a little earlier. That a 6 year old child who escaped death the first time should be targeted again tells us a lot about the mentality of the Israeli army. Why couldn’t ‘the most moral army in the world’ allow a little girl to live especially when so many of her family members had been eliminated ?
It is not just Hind’s killing that is a metaphor for the deaths of thousands of Palestinian children since the outset of the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian lands in 1948. The Israeli government and Israeli society as a whole are indifferent to the massacre of Palestinian children which is why we should not be surprised by the attitude of its soldiers.
The film also shows the concern of Palestinian Red Crescent staff over the ordeal facing Hind. This is a reflection of sentiments within the larger Palestinian society. But like the larger society, the staff are helpless; they can’t save the child. Peaceful protests can’t stop bombs.
It is significant that the film also reveals the differences within the Red Crescent staff on how to deal with the Israeli Establishment. The divisions among the Palestinians is a reality that weakens their struggle.
But the film generally speaking steers clear of the politics facing either the Palestinians or the Israelis. It is an apolitical movie which maybe one of its strengths. Through its depiction of the tight grip of the Israeli Occupation and the utter helplessness of its victims, The Voice of Hind Rajab nonetheless succeeds in conveying the truth about Israeli Occupation and the pain and suffering of the Palestinian people. Its ability to do this in such a gentle and persuasive manner is one of the strengths of the film.
Perhaps that is another of its great metaphors !
Chandra Muzaffar
Kuala Lumpur.
4th February 2026.