“Palestinian Refugees” (study, 1967) Bajeel Art collection. Courtesy Instagram.com/Sultanalqassemi
As violence escalates in Palestine, prominent figures from all over the world shared messages pleading for peace and the respect of human rights. United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres issued a statement via his spokesperson, “He is deeply saddened to learn of increasingly large numbers of casualties, including children, from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, and of Israeli fatalities from rockets launched from Gaza. The Secretary-General’s thoughts are with the families of the victims.” He called on Israeli security forces to “exercise maximum restraint and calibrate their use of force,” and stated that “indiscriminate launching of rockets and mortars towards Israeli population centers is unacceptable.” In the UAE, foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan called for a ceasefire in a statement. “The UAE is alarmed by the escalating spiral of violence in Israel and Palestine. We express our condolences to all victims of the recent fighting, and join others in calling for an immediate cessation of violence and hostilities,” he said. “The UAE calls on all parties to take immediate steps to commit to a ceasefire, initiate a political dialogue, and exercise maximum restraint.”
Having into consideration the complexity of the dispute and the violence of the acts, opinions are polarized. From the Arab world – and Arabs abroad – leading figures in culture and entertainment are using their vast audiences to generate awareness in support of Palestinians, and what they are describing as arbitrary violence. The most powerful messages are in defense of children that have been killed in residential neighborhood attacks, and innocent civilians losing their lives.
Read some of the reactions below.
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