At OGA, we believe that silence in the face of injustice is a form of complicity. Through OGA Voices, we provide a platform for those experiencing the unimaginable to speak their truths directly to the world. Today, we share a profound reflection by Roa Abu Rous, who challenges us to look beneath the surface of global headlines and confront the staggering disparity in how human life and grief are valued. Her words are a call to conscience for a world that has grown comfortable with selective sorrow.
By:Roa Abu Rous
The world’s hypocrisy is a crushing weight, a force more relentless than the rubble that smothers Gaza. Even now, the global machinery whirs into action for a solemn, singular mission: recovering the bodies of 19 Israeli occupiers, who were killed by the very same military that unleashed a genocidal hellscape upon Palestinians.
Let me state this plainly: The same force that buried 10,000 Gazans under the rubble with a massive, indiscriminate bombardment now directs all its efforts to recover its own, while willfully ignoring the thousands it left behind.
Abandoned, Not Just Missing
For the people of Gaza, the bombs may have momentarily paused, but the siege of grief is eternal. This truth must sink in: 10,000 missing Gazans remain buried beneath the ruins of their own homes, entire families simply wiped from existence. The victims of this horrific genocide, our mothers, our fathers, our children, are treated as mere debris.
They are NOT missing.
They are ABANDONED.
A Mass Grave of Indifference
Entombed for years, the 10,000 lie in a MASS grave of the world’s indifference. They are NOT just numbers.
They are fathers whose children still whisper for them in the night.
They are mothers whose warmth is now a frozen memory.
They are sons and daughters whose futures were stolen.
The world rushes to offer heavy machinery to retrieve the dead from the rubble it helped create, yet denies those same tools to Gazans who dig for their children with bleeding hands.
And what does this say?
It screams that Palestinian life, a Palestinian death, and a Palestinian soul are unworthy of the same respect.
The Brutal Hierarchy of Grief
They are denied the most basic human right: to reclaim their dead, to grant them a proper burial, to have a final, sacred goodbye.
Can you fathom their families’ agony?
To know your loved one is just meters away, crushed under concrete, while the world looks away?
To dig with your broken hands because no one cares enough to bring a crane?
The world’s silence is not merely political; it is an abandonment of their very humanity.
This is the brutal hierarchy of grief, enforced by an occupier, armed and funded by the world, who holds the power of life and death over the occupied.
The world’s conscience is a selectively opened grave, offering closure to one side while declaring the other’s dead irrelevant.
So, let no one deceive you into believing the occupation has ended.
Standing in Solidarity
We refuse to accept a world where the dignity of a burial is determined by nationality. At OGA, we stand with Roa and every family digging through the ruins with bare hands. True restoration begins with acknowledging every soul lost and demanding the tools, the dignity, and the justice required to honor them. We must dismantle the hierarchies that tell us which lives deserve to be remembered and which are meant to be forgotten.
Connect with Roa Abu Ross
More of Roa’s powerful articles and reflections can be found on her blog: RoaResilience.
You can also follow her and stay informed here:
- LinkedIn: Roa Abu Ross
- Instagram: @roarama.7
How to Support
- Amplify: Share Roa’s words to break the cycle of selective silence.
- Advocate: Demand the entry of heavy machinery into Gaza to allow families to recover their loved ones.
- Donate: Support local grassroots efforts providing tools and humanitarian relief directly on the ground.
