Why Palestinians in Gaza are protesting with photos of Israeli children killed by Hamas
Gaza Youth Committee founder Rami Aman says many people in Gaza do not support Hamas, only want peace and mourn for the Israeli children who have been killed, as well as their own
We in Gaza love life and want to see an end to this war. We love others living their lives too and most people in Gaza do not support Hamas, despite its claims that it has the backing of the people and that it constitutes the majority. This is the wrong image. People have been demonstrating against Hamas’s rule for many years.
We also appreciate receiving Scotland's love and support for the Palestinians, some of whom are football fans who follow the derby matches between Glasgow Rangers and Celtic.
For years, the Israeli army has been killing thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, saying this is necessary to eliminate Hamas. However, there have been credible claims – from people like the former European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell – that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government actually provided funding for Hamas, helping to build its headquarters and offices and purchasing everything necessary to ensure its rule.
Netanyahu needed Hamas to win the support of Israeli voters under the pretext of protecting them from danger. His government is always trying to show the people in Gaza as criminals who dream all the time of killing Jews and teach our children nothing but hatred. This is not true. Hatred is born of wars and killing only creates killing.
Solidarity with all Israelis
The Hamas movement knows very well that, in the event of elections in Gaza, only a few thousand people would vote for it. Hamas began to lose the sympathy of the people in Gaza years ago, but the media does not show that.
The Israeli army has now killed more than 60,000 people in Gaza, wounded hundreds of thousands, and destroyed our future, but it will not be able to eliminate our humanity and our rights.
Amid the ongoing devastation in Gaza, the Gaza Youth Committee launched a courageous and compassionate campaign called “We Live Together, We Die Together”, signalling a bold departure from entrenched narratives of division. This initiative extends heartfelt messages of solidarity to all Israelis, regardless of faith or background.
We mourn with every Jewish, Christian, and Muslim family that has lost a child in this war. Our pain does not blind us to the suffering of others, and we are against the killing of children, whether Palestinian or Israeli.
Despite living under siege, enduring hunger, death, and displacement, the youth of Gaza remain steadfast in their belief in peace. We have not turned away from our responsibility to speak for peace, even when the world turns away from us.
We at the Gaza Youth Committee appreciate everyone who carries pictures of our children and commemorates them and does not consider them to be just numbers. We saw many Israelis holding photographs of Palestinian children killed in the war.
So we decided to tell them that we are also with you, that we want to end the war and stand in solidarity with every family that lost a child by protesting in Gaza with pictures of Israeli children, like Ariel Bibas, four, and his nine-month-old brother, Kfir, killed by Hamas.
Not superheroes, not terrorists
This campaign is in keeping with the legacy of earlier efforts. In May 2018, 50 of our committee members gathered at Gaza’s eastern border and released 150 white doves, each carrying a message of peace for Israelis.
One key organizer, who participated in that event, has since lost three children and eight family members in an Israeli airstrike. Still, he has not lost faith in the transformative power of reconciliation and human dignity.
We at the Gaza Youth Committee have always been trying to network school students in Gaza with others in European schools so that people there know the truth about their lives. Some people believe we are superheroes, others that we are terrorists. The majority do not seem to believe we are ordinary people.
We always try to convey Gaza's true message and call on people in other countries not to believe those in the Israeli media who want to make us appear as terrorists. We held many meetings between the Palestinians in Gaza and the Israelis, to the point that the Hamas government arrested me more than once. In 2020, I was jailed for six-and-a-half months after holding a meeting between more than 300 Israelis and ten people from Gaza.
It is important that these messages come out of Gaza, carried by brave young men who declare their commitment to peace on behalf of the large number of Palestinians who completely reject all the killing because they are the people who suffer most through the loss of their dearest children.
Partners for peace
This war must stop for the sake of the lives of the innocent victims who have died since October 7, and the whole world must know that all the residents of Gaza want an end to the war, the release of the hostages, and the opening of the Rafah crossing to allow people to receive medical treatment.
People who want to leave in search of a new life and those stranded outside Gaza who want to return to what remains of their homes should be allowed to do so. We also need new Palestinian elections.
We in the Gaza Youth Committee consider ourselves partners with every person who wants to end the war, release the hostages, and open a political path to peace in all Palestinian territories. We do not want anyone to be the next victim; we want everyone to be the next hope.
Rami Aman is the founder of the Gaza Youth Committee
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