Mr President of the Republic,

It is with a heavy heart that I write to you in view of the endless cycles of violence that are unfolding before our eyes in Palestine.

I was horrified by the terrorist methods used by Hamas against Israel. No human being can or should be subjected to such violence. These crimes against innocent lives cannot be justified.

At a time when we are sharing our solidarity with the Israeli people, I did not miss the fact that in your speech on Thursday 12 October, you haven’t said anything in regards to the people of Gaza, imprisoned, thirsty and starving in a veritable open-air prison for 18 years.

This constantly unequal treatment of Palestinian lives makes me wonder about the responsibility of France, the “country of human rights”. The same France that has forbidden any support for Palestinian despair and that has made the repeated violations of human rights and international law in Gaza the norm for years.

If you wish to reiterate your unwavering support for an occupying State and its extremist leaders who advocate war crimes, allow me to speak on behalf of those who cannot be heard, and whose suffering seems patently invisible to you and the international community. 

Under the unjust bombardments that spare neither women nor children and the unrestricted restrictions that have lasted for so long, entire families are shattered and plunged into despair. Generations of young Palestinians are growing up in terror.

In this total chaos, journalists and UN staff are even regularly targeted. The daily suffering in Gaza and Palestine is a reality that cannot be ignored for all these years.

We should not be afraid to use strong words, Mr President, It is a veritable ethnic cleansing that is taking place every day before our very eyes, reminding us of the dark days of thousands of Palestinians when the State of Israel was created.

Let me modestly remind you of the words of Alain Gresh: “Whatever the solution, it will have to take account of a universal principle, that of equality between the citizens settled between the Mediterranean and the Jordan, the absence of discrimination between them”.

Mr President, I am a privileged 21-year-old French student, and this is my humble request to put an end to the discrimination and disappearance of the Palestinian people, for a lasting peace.

With all the hope that these words underline,

Ewen Miquel

©Licence Unsplash Ash Hayes

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