(Image Credit: UNICEF/Abed Zagout)
In times of severe humanitarian crises, whether natural or man-made, profound questions and doubts tend to emerge about the meaning of life. These questions weigh heavily on individuals and communities, especially when salvation does not appear to be on the horizon.
In 19th-century Europe, the advancement of political thought and the notion of democratic governance fostered an atmosphere of optimism and ambitious dreams. But it was not long before this transformation met the horrors of the First and Second World Wars.
These conflicts consumed millions of lives and devastated societies, both physically and spiritually. The widespread destruction deeply shook the achievements of modernity, leading to the resurgence of existential questions in philosophy, literature and art - a reconsideration of human nature and the soul.
After World War II, extensive reassessments led to the establishment of new foundations for international relations. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was issued alongside global laws designed to prevent genocide in the wake of the Holocaust. The slaughter of millions of Jews by Nazi Germany prompted the slogan: “Never again.”
It is both astonishing and terrifying that the very same nations and groups that established these principles are now repeating their own dark history across Palestine. In Gaza, we are witnessing a systematic genocide and a deliberate strategy to erase an entire people.
Through their complicity in Israel’s ethnic cleansing, western nations are reminding new generations of the foundations upon which these countries were built: the extermination and erasure of indigenous peoples. They are reaffirming their deeply ingrained supremacist and racist mindset.
This painful reality is precisely what drives people back into a spiral of existential despair. It also raises a profound dilemma: how can one survive in such a world, and is there any ethical framework capable of preventing total internal collapse?
