Hunger Without Justice!!

Author: رامي مهداوي

I received a message from Gaza.

It's not a news report, nor a political statement, nor a complaint via a communication platform. Rather, it is a humanitarian cry, written with the pulse of hunger, a wounded voice, and letters that intertwine oppression with dignity. I present it to you as I received it, not to stir your emotions, but to carry the trust of its author... a voice from inside Gaza, from those who refuse to trade in pain, and who remain loyal to the city that bleeds silently and with pride. He wrote to me saying:
"My brother, enough!

What is happening in Gaza has become unbearable... remaining silent about it is no longer possible. We live in a time where flour is sold on the black market, and aid that should be a right for the people is sold as loot to those who hold power, stamps, or trucks. A kilo of flour is sold for 130 shekels, oil for 120, pasta for 90, and lentils for 70. People line up for days hoping for a bag or a can, while shipments are sold behind closed doors to those who pay more."

This is not an exceptional or rare sight, but a daily reality experienced by the people of Gaza in tents of displacement, ruins, and dilapidated shelters. What deepens the wound is that those stealing the aid are not strangers... but local institutions, initiative owners, traders, and individuals associated with "charity," yet they are immersed in the trade of death. He adds in his message that the aid that comes is sold at the cost of the blood and dignity of our people, and the most telling evidence of this is the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (American aid) which does not distribute aid fairly even those claiming to be democratic kill the young, women, and children at aid points, a mouthful soaked in blood.

He continues in his message:

"The problem is not only with the occupation, but with us... with us. With those who sold flour shipments to restaurants and bakeries, with those selling hospital diesel on the black market, with those raising commission fees, with those classifying people on who deserves aid and who does not, according to connections and affiliations. Even patients, their travel for treatment is not according to their condition... but according to payment and connections!"

Is there any oppression greater than that treatment becomes a trade? Is there any greater injustice than a hungry child's food becoming subject to bidding? Is it conceivable for aid trucks to pass by yet not reach those in need, while the wounded are buried without pain relief? In Gaza, everything is exposed, and no one can hide the truth. Everyone knows who sells, who profits, who remains silent, and who turns a blind eye. But the most dangerous thing is for hunger to become a tool for control, and for charity to become a gate for influence.

"Our problem is not just with the enemy that bombs us... the problem lies within us and those who siphon from our hunger, those who turn catastrophe into opportunity, and invest in the tragedy. Gaza no longer needs pity; Gaza needs justice. It needs oversight. It needs the delivery of aid to the people and not to traders."

The author of the message concluded his plea with a single sentence that shook me:

"If the dignity of the starving Palestinian does not prevail... there will be no dignity left for anyone."

This sentence is not to be hung on walls, nor spoken in a speech, but should be engraved in the heart. This is not an angry call; it is the voice of a people whose pains have been robbed, and whose dignity has been violated. Gaza is not asking for the impossible; it is requesting a simple human right: to eat with dignity, to be treated with dignity, to live with dignity, and to die with dignity. His message is a trust that should not be tossed aside or silenced in darkness. I convey it as it reached me, and place it before every official and every man of conscience:

Either you are with Gaza... or with those who prey upon it in its name.

What we demand today is not a luxury, but a fundamental and essential right: for the theft of aid that is supposed to save lives to stop, and for this aid to reach every hungry needy person fully and with dignity, without discrimination or corruption. We need strict and transparent oversight that puts an end to anyone exploiting Gaza's pain to enrich themselves at the expense of its blood. There is no place for chaos and theft that kill hope and destroy the dignity of the Palestinian people. If we do not all stand firmly against these crimes, we will not only be witnesses to a continuous tragedy, but partners in it. Dignity is not a luxury that can be waived, but a red line that must not be crossed, and any assistance that does not respect it is merely part of the crime itself. Gaza awaits more from us than words; it awaits a genuine will to change an unbearable reality.