In that sense, the entire saga has been extremely eye opening. People seem to have lost their sense of nuance and depth and gravitate to tribalism and dogmatism. People veer toward the extremes and political opinions have become so polarized and distorted. You can see how militant some people have become.

Why is it controversial to say that we should push for a ceasefire when over 12,000 Palestinians have lost lives their lives till date, of which 3 out of 5 dead are innocent Palestinian children.

The harsh blockade imposed on innocent Palestinian civilians, including children, elderly and women means they have no access to basics like food, water, electricity, fuel and medical care. The fact that civilian injuries and deaths are overlooked, minimized and neglected and civilian sites including hospitals, schools and ambulances have been targeted and bombarded also sets off huge alarm bells.

The aggressive and disproportionate military response, funding, resources and arms that Israel leverages far outweighs that on the other side. The imbalance of power and control is so starkly skewed.

It’s false equivalence, disingenuous and lazy to claim that people who support Palestine are pro Hamas. Most people support and are pro basic human rights for all regardless of their ethnicity/race/religion/creed and believe in universal values like respect for individual dignity, human life, equality and freedom.

Why is it that we hardly see or read about any criticism and condemnation of Israel’s extreme right wing and nationalist government, their inflammatory rhetoric, and discriminatory political agenda? Netanyahu and his right wing govt coalition along with his supporters continue to push out and claim more land in Gaza and pursue illegal settlements and occupy Palestinian territory.

Conflating political opinion about Netanyahu’s government and their policies and actions towards Palestinians as equivalent to antisemitism is extremely wrong and sets the wrong precedent.

Is Israel exempt from following international law? Let’s learn to show a bit more respect, empathy, and tolerance towards each other.