War, you have done your job.

Run. Hide. Flee. Duck. Squat. Don’t say a word. Don’t make a sound. Hold your breath.

Wait

Wait

Listen…

Decide is it safe to sprint or should I stay hidden till his footsteps are completely gone.

Heart pounding, vision blurring in and out of focus, lungs burning and body aching we push our tiny legs to carry us faster and further. Where do we go to from here? Our parents lay dead, our uncles and aunts in pieces and the teenagers lay buried alive under the rubble. The soldiers who should protect us have turned on us and our government drives us out from the only place we call home.

There are a few of us lucky enough to get away with a tattered bear or even better with a sibling or parent, the rest of us wonder lost trying to survive. Desperately clinging onto a life that slips away further with every rocket blast, gun shot, beating and stab wound we witness, experience and live through.

Back to reality, while you were reading the above, a million possibilities of where this child could be, ran through your mind. Images flashed and events were recalled. Past. Present. It’s all there. We all know the famous images. The gruesome pictures of children destroyed and ravaged by the wars around them.

But what have we done to stop it from happening again… and again… and again.

Nothing.

Instead, we as adults repeat the mistakes of the past. We allow the oppression, persecution and genocide of large groups of people because it benefits another group of people. Capitalism means that as long as a profit is being made no questions will be asked. I suppose the mentality is that: How can it be bad if I am benefiting.

We forget that there are two sides to every story and only the third side will be the complete truth.

So let’s look at the truth.

The truth is that for a long time children have always been victims of war. They have little to no choice in the matter. They are forced to endure and experience the most horrible of acts in the name of a war they never asked for. They have always been the worst affected and the most exposed. When food supplies have run short and water supplies have been contaminated, it is children who suffer the most: their bodies in need of consistent nourishment and unable to fight diseases and poisoning like an adult body can. Then, let’s look at the effects of trauma of exposure to violence and brutal death and the mental and emotional scars these children will be forced to live with for the rest of their lives. That is if they (by some miracle) manage to survive these wars at all.

We all know of the devastation of the genocide at the hands of Hitler and his cronies and the terrible oppression of people during the South African Apartheid Era. We know of the Native American Genocide and it’s decimation of the Native American populations between the 1600’s and early 1900’s. We know of the horrors in Rwanda and the disastrous destruction left in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. We heard the horror stories from Bosnia and Kosovar.

We claim we are more humane now. Less savage; more desensitised . We claim we are a world striving for peace and equality for all, proudly claiming we are a global community, and yet here we are today sitting back and watching as children are decimated at the hands of greedy, blood thirsty politicians. Oh wait, they just “damage control” and it HAD to be done!
What’s wrong? Did my statement make you gasp in indignation and horror?

Good.

Hold onto your horror and follow me down this path that reveals the silent cries of the children who are as much a part of our community as you and I.

According to a post in 2012 on The Humanium Organizations website: “During the last 10 years, around 10 million children are estimated to have been killed as a result of war.” (Garreau, 2012)

Let’s hear the screams of agony from the 1417 children who were killed in Palestine over the years. Let’s mourn the deaths of 547 Palestinian children and the one Israeli child during Operation Protective Edge this year that the Defense for Children International Palestine independently verified.

Now let’s go to a more recent crisis. The Children of Syria. Before I get into the statistics and the facts, I would like to expose absolutely disgusting comment made by the most selfish, self-absorbed, first world, money-in-her-brain ridiculous woman I had the unfortunate experience of finding on social media. You know who you are. Your comment under the picture of the little boy who had drowned was something along the lines of “He’s well dressed and well fed. What kind of a parent would throw their child into the sea just to gain entry into Europe? How greedy can these people be?”

You, yes you. You are the reason I have lost faith in humanity. The only time a parent would put their child in the ocean is if the water is safer than the land. They do not want to be in Europe. They want to be at home, they want to be safe in their own homes in their own country.

You think their country is safe? You think they should stay in Syria? Do you you think you could stay in their country? I think not, because clearly your ignorance would get you killed.

Tell me this. Would you stay in a country where one in three children have been hit, kicked or shot at? Would you let your child stay in a land where 7000 innocent children have been killed? Would you as a parent be able to live with the blood on your hands if you were offered the smallest chance of getting your child to a safer place and chose not to take it?

“Since the war in Syria broke out in March 2011, the United Nations estimates more than 100,000 people have been killed. At least 10,000 were children, with many more maimed.” (Schlein, 2014) This was almost a year ago and the situation has definitely intensified and escalated. So now, tell me again how his parents were being greedy and evil for running to Europe.
Now that we have some of the facts out in the open and we’ve established that these children are victims, what are we going to do about it? How are we as a community going to protect our children? What are we going to do to stop the war on children?

Because, let’s face it, Graca Michael was absolutely right when she said ““…modern wars are exploiting, maiming and killing children more callously and more systematically than ever”

Do we understand the gravity of this situation?

Do we know what we are allowing to happen?

What if the person with the answer to the impending global water crisis was shot today?

What if the doctor who would one day cure cancer drowned last night?

What if the person who could fix the hole in the ozone layer was buried in a pile of rubble this morning?

What if…

What if…

How many more what ifs do we need before we take a stand?

Open your minds and see with your hearts; war is an atrocious, disgusting tactic of greedy, power hungry leaders. And ask yourself the simple question, God has given us land, minerals and other commodities at no cost. So why, why are we putting such a heavy price on them?

Mourning for those lost,
BrokeBella.

Bibliography

A War Waged on The Children of Gaza. (2015). Retrieved September 10, 2015, from Defence for Children Palestine: http://www.dci-palestine.org/
Garreau, O. (2012, March 5). Children in war. Retrieved September 10, 2015, from Humaniam.org: http://www.humanium.org/en/children-in-war/
Save The Children Of Syria. (2015). Retrieved September 10, 2015, from Save The Children: http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.7998857/k.D075/Syria.htm
Schlein, L. (2014, September 23). UNICEF Says Children Main Victims of War. Retrieved September 10, 2015, from Voice Of America: http://www.voanews.com/content/unicef-says-children-main-victims-of-war/2459908.html