As a child, I often asked my mam a question I’m sure she struggled to answer:

“How could one man cause so many to die?”

I loved history in school — as do both my Mam and Dad — and I loved telling the stories of what got recorded about times past. I still remember when a friend from Northern Ireland told me their school history books barely mentioned the Famine, or the Flight of the Earls — events I’d grown up learning about.

It was much later when I realised: there is no one version of history.
Each country writes its own account.

How We Frame the Past

History books taught us about Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini. We love to package villains into tidy narratives — one evil leader, one era, one list of atrocities.

But I never understood how one person could convince so many others that their actions were right. That “the others” — Jews, communists, Palestinians, gay people, anyone deemed different — were somehow less than. And being labelled that way, were removed from our shared humanity.

How does it happen — that people come to believe that treating others as disposable is acceptable?

Living Through a Moment That Will Be Remembered

I never imagined I would live through a moment where I’d be asking myself that same question again.

And yet, here we are.

It’s 2025. And we — our generation, our global community — may one day be the people future generations ask about:

“How could they have known, and not acted together to stop it?”

The violence in Gaza is not abstract to me. It’s not far away. It’s not distant history.
It is a living nightmare that so many of us are witnessing daily.

Friends, colleagues, and family speak of it in hushed tones — with sadness, with disbelief, with rage. We see the images of children, parents, entire families being destroyed. We read of aid being blocked, of hospitals bombed, of medical workers risking — and losing — their lives.

And I feel that same gnawing question from childhood return.

Alongside Grief, Respect

But alongside that grief, I feel immense respect.

Respect for every humanitarian worker who steps into danger so that others might live.
Respect for every legal and political professional in Ireland, in Europe, and beyond, working — often unseen — to end this inhuman crisis.

Your work matters.
Your courage matters.
And it deserves our deepest thanks.

To Those Who Feel Powerless

To anyone who feels powerless — I see you. I feel it too.

But I believe that staying informed, taking a stand, marching, boycotting, donating, raising awareness, and standing beside those on the frontlines counts for something.

I have to believe that these actions are adding up — and that one day soon, they will be the lever that forces change.

What We Choose to Do Matters

At 3Q, we’ve made our financial donation to the Irish Red Cross, as we’ve done many times before to support humanitarian aid. We deeply believe in the work they do.

I cannot comprehend the scale of devastation the Palestinian people have endured — and continue to endure. But I can choose not to look away.

I can choose to hope.
To pray.
To speak out.
And to keep asking:

Please, world leaders — make this stop.

🔗 Further Reading

• No Food, No Sleep, No Hope in Gaza – Al Jazeera

• “Hopeless, Starving, and Besieged”: Israel’s Forced Displacement of Palestinians in Gaza – Human Rights Watch

• Tens of Thousands Rally Around the World Against Israel’s Gaza Bombardment – Al Jazeera

• Exhibit: “Gaza, Palestine: A Crisis of Humanity” – UN Question of Palestine

• Exhibit: “Gaza, Palestine: A Crisis of Humanity” – Flipbook