For weeks I’ve been asking myself why the decision makers across the Western world are closing their eyes while Israel is committing war crimes and killing tens of thousands of people. What is so radical about condemning a genocide and an ethnic cleansing? Why are we letting this happen?

And I think part of the reason lies in guilt. Western guilt.

Because if we really start to look into the situation we will see that the roots of oppression, both Palestinians and Jewish people, trace back to Western colonialism and white supremacy.

It is far easier to blame Hamas for all the terror that is happening right now than to acknowledge the long going oppression of Palestinians that has been supported by Western nations. Because if we do, we would also have to admit that we are part of the problem.

The oppression of Palestinian people has never been just a local or a regional issue, but a global one. And because of that, the solution must also be global.

Israel is only able to maintain its system of apartheid and settler colonialism over the Palestinian people because of the support it receives from world governments, corporations and institutions. Finland and the EU, as part of the global community, must take action to stop the oppression and genocide of the Palestinian people.

Empty words without concrete action are not taking us anywhere. We must require an immediate ceasefire and end to the genocide in Gaza. We must stop trading arms with Israel and ban products that have been made in illegal settlements.

I believe that peoples’ integrity and true commitment to human rights are measured when encountered with resistance. If we start to compromise the universal human dignity, we are no better than the people who are bombing innocent children right now. This is the time we need to stand on the right side of history, on the side of the Gazan people.

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!