Ep. 6: Never Again: What Happened To The Promise?

 "We said 'Never Again'—but did we ever mean it? From the ashes of past genocides to the destruction of Gaza today, this episode unpacks a promise betrayed and the human cost of our selective silence." 

Check out my substack page where I tackle some of the episode topics in depth and write about other issues our country and the world are facing today. https://substack.com/@ktdpodcast 

Transcript

Raheel Khan 0:02

Hi there, and welcome to another episode of Khannecting the Dots. Today I'm gonna spend some more time talking about a topic that I touched on in episode two, the ongoing devastation in Gaza. The daily horrors can often become so overwhelming that it's easier to tune out than to pay attention. It makes it so hard to even know how to talk about the situation, where to even begin. But recently I had the opportunity to watch the gut-wrenching BBC interview of Dr. Tanya Haj Hassan, a pediatric intensive care physician who has risked her life to volunteer in Gaza to care for the suffering. There have been other interviews and statements made by doctors who have worked in Gaza, including a powerful letter penned by 45 American physicians and nurses, sent to the Biden administration detailing the horrors they saw there and demanding an end to US support of Israel's actions. Despite that, this one really sat with me, take a listen. Her testimony and the testimony of so many others has me thinking about how it's possible that the world has allowed such brutality to continue. Instead of standing against genocide, our government is ridiculing and bullying imprisoning and deporting those who raise their voices and protests for peace. It makes me wonder what happened to that rallying cry of millions after World War II when the world collectively declared never again to the brutality and horrors of the Holocaust. Never again to ethnic cleansing, genocide, to the mass murder of innocent civilians. But as I look at the world around us now and what's happened over the past 80 years, I can't help but ask. Who was that promise really meant for? Never again, these two words became humanity's solemn pledge. After witnessing the unspeakable horrors of World War ii, and we didn't just say it, we built an entire international system to prove we meant it. United Nations to prevent conflicts between nations. International court of justice to hold violators accountable. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Genocide Convention to protect human dignity and criminalize the destruction of peoples. And the year later, the Geneva Conventions to establish legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. All of this was supposed to ensure that the systematic murder and persecution we witnessed during the Holocaust would never happen again to anyone anywhere. But here's what I can't stop thinking about. Does Never again apply to all of humanity as these institutions suggest. Or was it only ever meant for the Jewish people ensuring that they specifically would never face persecution again? Because if we truly meant it for everyone. We haven't just failed. We failed spectacularly over and over again. Almost from the moment we made that promise. The world began failing its promise before it was even finalized. In 1947, Britain orchestrated the partition of India knowing full well it would trigger unprecedented bloodshed. British officials were well aware that drawing arbitrary lines through communities. Would lead to massive violence, yet they proceeded anyway. The result was one of the largest mass migrations in human history. Between 500,000 to 2 million people were killed in horrific communal violence. Trains arrived at stations filled with corpses. Entire villages were massacred and women were systematically raped and abducted. The international community watched as the carnage unfolded and began learning how to look away. The very next year as a world proclaimed never again during the Genocide Convention. Another systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing was already underway. The Palestinian Nakba in 1948. European countries and Americans were instrumental in assisting the creation of Israel on Palestinian land. Knowing full well, what would likely happen to the indigenous population. Between 1947 and 1949, at least 750,000 Palestinians, over 80% of the population living in what would become Israel, were expelled from their homes. Zionist forces destroyed approximately 530 villages and cities. Killed about 15,000 Palestinians in a series of mass atrocities, including more than 70 massacres and poisoned village wells and the biological warfare program. The most infamous was the Deir Yassin Massacre on April 9th, 1948, where over 110 men, women and children were slaughtered by Zionist militias led by future Israeli prime ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir. From there, the failures continued. Bangladesh, 1971, the Pakistani military killed an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 Bengalis in just nine months. Although the Bangladeshi government claims up to 3 million. Between 200,000 to 400,000 women were victims of sexual violence. Despite clear evidence of genocide, the Nixon administration continued providing weapons to Pakistan. Cambodia, 1975 to 1979 Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge killed 1.5 to 2 million people, nearly 25% of Cambodia's population. While the world largely ignored the genocide and some Western intellectuals even defended the Khmer Rouge as reports of mass killings emerged. East Timor, 1975 through 1999, Indonesia's 24 year occupation killed up to one fifth of East Timor's population similar to Cambodia under the Khm Rouge. The US and other powers provided tacit support to Indonesia during this time. Rwanda 1994. In just 100 days, approximately 800,000 to 1 million. Tutsis in moderate Hudu were systematically murdered. While UN peacekeepers on the ground were ordered not to intervene. Bosnia. In the 1990s. Over 100,000 people died and 2 million were displaced in deliberate ethnic cleansing, while the world watched. The massacre at Srebrenica alone claimed 8,000 lives in the matter of days. It took over three years and the Srebrenica massacre before other Western powers fully intervened. The Democratic Republic of Congo. Since 1996, an estimated 6 million people have died in what's often called Africa's World War. Despite the massive death toll, international intervention has been minimal and ineffective. Guatemala, 1960 through 1996, the US backed military carried out 626 massacres against Maya Indigenous people destroying 440 villages and killing an estimated 200,000 people. 83% of whom were Maya. The genocide peaked in the early 1980s while the Reagan administration not only continued, but increased military support. Sudan. Genocide in Darfur has claimed an estimated 300,000 lives since 2003. With millions more displaced. The conflict significantly intensified in 2023. The region now considered one of the worst humanitarian crises the world is currently facing. Myanmar's Rohingya, almost 1 million Rohingya Muslims have been driven from their homes since 2017, in what UN officials have called a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. Tens of thousands have been killed, with thousands of women and girls have been sexually assaulted. China's Uyghurs, more than 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities have been detained. Beijing euphemistically called Reeducation Camps, a systematic campaign to erase their culture, language, and identity. I'm sure even the above is not a comprehensive list. The sad thing is that each time, never again is broken. Each time the world found reasons to look away. And now we are witnessing what experts increasingly recognized as the most documented genocide in modern history in Gaza. Tragically being perpetrated by the government, representing the very people who survived the Holocaust. The numbers we hear daily, over 54,000 Palestinians killed likely represent a massive under count. A peer reviewed study published the Lancet Medical Journal found that the actual death toll in just the first nine months was likely 41% higher than officially reported estimating over 64,000 deaths from traumatic injuries alone by June, 2024. That figure doesn't even include deaths from starvation disease or the thousands still buried under rubble. Other estimates have placed a death toll well over 100,000. Between 60% to 70% of those killed are women, children, and people over 65. Meanwhile. Israel's claim of killing 20,000 to 25,000 Hamas terrorists is likely grossly inflated. The AP, CNN, Washington Post, and NBC have all reported that the IDF has provided little to no evidence for its claims of how many militants it has killed. Many observers believe Israel simply classifies any Palestinian male as Hamas. While international organizations consider Gaza'a casualty figures broadly accurate and historically reliable, if not an under account. The recognition of genocide comes not only from Palestinians, but also from some of the most respected voices, Holocaust survivors and leading scholars on the Holocaust. Holocaust survivor, Stephen Capos, who lost most of his family in the Holocaust, now protests with a sign reading. This Holocaust survivor says stop the genocide in Gaza. He and many other survivors, along with hundreds of their descendants have condemned the use of Holocaust memory to justify violence against Palestinians. Hundreds of prominent scholars of genocide and mass violence have publicly called Israel's actions. Genocidal. Raz Segal, a leading genocide scholar, described it as a textbook case of genocide. While historian Barry Trachtenberg testified that there is a consensus among genocide experts that Gaza meets the definition. Thousands of Jewish protestors around the world have joined pro-Palestinian demonstrations, carrying signs like not in our name, and Jews say, stop the genocide. These voices stress that condemning Israel's actions in Gaza is a moral stance rooted in the very lessons of the Holocaust. As you heard from Dr. Tanya Haj Hassan, the reality there is unimaginable. Her full testimony is even more harrowing. She recounted how her colleague, Dr. Ala Al Najjar lost nine of her 10 children when her home was bombed while she was on call at Nassar Hospital. Her husband and sole living child remain critically injured. This is the grim reality for Palestinian medical professionals. Losing their families while trying to save others. Dr. Haj Hassan, who has visited Gaza many times, reported that at least 240 healthcare workers have been detained by Israeli forces with released detainees describing torture and inhumane conditions. One nurse was held for 53 days and subjected to severe abuse before being cleared of any wrongdoing. Another case involved Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh, a respected orthopedic surgeon who was reportedly tortured to death in Israeli custody after being seized from his hospital. Since the start of Israel's assault, more than 1100 healthcare workers have been killed. Many now change outta their scrubs and leaving hospitals fearing that they will be targeted. Dr. Haj-Hassan's words resonate deeply. This is not a humanitarian crisis. This is the worst of what humanity is capable of, and it's entirely manmade. Children are also being targeted. Since October, 2023, UNICEF estimates that more than 50,000 children have been killed or injured over 1,300 killed since Israel unilaterally broke the ceasefire in March of this year. There are constant and horrific images of severely burned and dismembered children being pulled from the rubble. Although Israel claims they're not targeting children only going after Hamas strongholds, the evidence speaks otherwise. American doctors returning from Gaza, say over 80% treated children with gunshot wounds to the head or chest suggesting targeted attacks. 12-year-old Mohammed al-Bardawil, who witnessed the killing of 15 medics that I discussed in episode two was shot dead by Israeli Naval forces while fishing with his father. As his father stated, it was a targeted deliberate killing. Schools have also been targeted. Israel is systematically destroying Palestinian education in what experts call"scholasticide." Over 625,000 children have been unable to attend school for over a year. While at least 85% of school buildings have been damaged or destroyed, Israeli attacks have killed over 10,400 students and 500 educators, while all 19 universities have been severely damaged. 80% of the buildings destroyed. In one week. During the summer of 2024, Israeli forces attack schools daily, seven schools in seven days. Israeli Strikes on Gaza schools killed 354 people during the summer of 2024 alone. Gaza has become one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a child. With over 1 million children now requiring mental health support. Many children have demonstrated self-harm behavior, and expressed suicidal thoughts, questioning why they survived and their families died, wishing they could be dead as well. Journalists are not being spared either. Gaza has become the most dangerous place for journalists in modern history. Over 200 Palestinian journalists have been killed since October 2023. More than any other conflict zone, even more than the entire six years of World War ii. Their deaths follow a clear pattern of targeted killing. Drone journalists are repeatedly attacked shortly after capturing aerial footage, including Mahmoud al-Basos killed during the ceasefire while filming Ramadan preparations. When journalists, Mustafa Thuraya and Hamza Dahdouh were killed by Israeli airstrike. The Washington Post found no indications they were operating as anything other than journalists with no military activity nearby. Israel has implemented a deliberate starvation campaign, as I mentioned in my previous episode. When Israel announced plans to allow minimal aid, established aid organizations refuse to participate, condemning it as weaponizing aid for military and political purposes. The plan, which allows for only 60 trucks per day, a 10th of what was allowed during the ceasefire and provides meals with just 1700 calories below the 2100 calorie emergency standard. It also reduces distribution centers from 400 to just three to four, forcing displacement to access aid. The chaos and ethical compromises of this plan became immediately apparent. The executive director of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the organization tasked with distributing the aid, resigned after just one day. Why? He stated it was clear that the organization could not operate independently and meet humanitarian principles. On the first day of the operations alone, at least 10 Palestinians were killed and 62 injured while trying to reach a distribution points. This systematic destruction is reflected in the chilling openness of Israel's leaders when speaking to their own people. Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich declared Israel's goal is destroying everything that's left of the Gaza ship, stating"we are conquering, cleansing, and remaining in Gaza until Hamas is destroyed. Disassembling Gaza and leaving it as piles of rubble with total destruction, which has no precedent globally". Netanyahu himself has invoked biblical language comparing Hamas to Amalek, a reference to Divine Commandments for total destruction. Speaking in Hebrew, he said,"you must remember what Amalek has done to you". In recent cabinet meetings, Netanyahu's openly discussed the forced displacement of Gaza's population telling lawmakers"Gaza's population will be moved for its own protection". He was quoted as saying,"Israel will occupy Gaza and take security control forever". While stating that the"only obvious result would be Gazan's choosing to immigrate outside of the strip". Even more damning is a recent statement by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who served from 2006 to 2009. Olmert is a conservative politician, and former member of Netanyahu's own Likud party. This is not some liberal official outside the mainstream of Israeli politics. Olmert had previously defended Israel against accusations of war crimes. In a scathing opinion piece in Haaretz titled Enough is enough. Israel is committing war crimes" Olmert writes,"What we are doing in Gaza is a war of extermination, indiscriminate, unrestrained, brutal, and criminal killing of civilians". He went on to say,"We are doing this not'because of an accidental loss of control in a particular sector, but as a result of a policy dictated by the government, knowingly, intentionally, viciously, maliciously, recklessly. Yes, we are committing war crimes." He referred to the current government as a"chorus of thugs" and a"gang of criminals" showing just how far even conservative Israeli leaders believe Netanyahu has gone. What's happening now is catastrophic. Unfortunately, it's just the final result of a behavior that has been going on for decades. The systematic dehumanization of Palestinians is not new, not just since October 7th. Since 1948, over 1 million Palestinians have been arrested accounting for at least one in five Palestinians and two in five Palestinian men. Today it is estimated that around 9,500 Palestinians remain imprisoned. While one third are held without charges under administrative detention, renewable indefinitely on secret evidence. UN experts document that torture forms part of the"modus operandi" of Israel's detention system. Designed to destroy Palestinian individually and collectively. Documented methods include waterboarding, electrocution, sexual assault, and cage like confinement. October, 2023 has marked a deadly escalation. At least 70 Palestinian prisoners have died in custody. The highest total ever recorded in such a short timeframe. What's most alarming is how openly segments of Israeli society now celebrate this brutality. When soldiers were arrested for gang raping a Palestinian prisoner at Sde Teiman, a notorious prison for Palestinians in Israel, so violently that he was transferred to a hospital and was unable to walk, scores of Israelis demanded the soldier's release. Knesset member and a member of Netanyahu's own Likud party justified it stating"If he is a Hamas militant, everything is legitimate! Everything!" Finance Minister Smotrich praised the soldiers as heroic warriors and TV broadcasts celebrated their actions. The dehumanization has reached such depths that extremist settlers have organized boat tours to view Gaza as it's being bombed. Planning which families will occupy the land of those being killed. During a January, 2024 settler conference titled"Settlement Brings Security" Extremist Leader Daniella Weiss declared"after October 7th. History has changed. It's the end of the presence of Arabs and Gaza. It's the end". That same night, while Gaza was being relentlessly erased, these extremists took a boat right to view the land they believed would soon be theirs. Literally watching the destruction of Palestinian lives while planning their future settlements. These responses exposed the complete dehumanization of Palestinians transforming systemic atrocities from hidden shame into public celebration. What we are witnessing in Gaza reveals the fundamental lie of never again, a promise that was always conditional. Look at the last 80 years, every major atrocity ignored by the international community follows the same pattern. The partition of India and Pakistan, the Nakba, Cambodia, Bangladesh, East Timor, Rwanda, Guatemala, the Rohingya. The victims are consistently people of color or marginalized groups. They're suffering deemed acceptable collateral damage. Even in Bosnia where the victims were European, they were Muslims, a marginalized group within Europe itself. Never again was never universal. It was a commitment to protect certain people while abandoning others to systemic extermination. The institutions we recreated the UN, ICJ, Geneva conventions serve as moral theater, providing cover for selective justice. Major powers intervene when convenient. Impose sanctions when politically useful and turn away when accountability threatens their interests. Gaza isn't an exception to our moral framework, it's the perfect expression of it. This is our shame. This is our failure. And if we don't act now, never again will forever be remembered, not as humanities promise, but as humanities greatest lie. I. A promise that was only ever meant to protect some people while abandoning the rest to suffer in silence. Dr. Haj Hassan asked a question that cuts to the heart of everything."How is it possible that the world has allowed such brutality to continue?" Her words and the words of countless doctors, journalists and survivors are not just testimony. They are a moral reckoning. they demand that we bear witness, they demand that we speak truth. They demand that we act. Because our silence makes us complicit. Our inaction makes us accomplices. The question for us now is simple. Will we continue to let never again remain a selective promise, or will we finally make it mean something real for all of humanity?