Angelina Jolie Instagram – These kinds of grave statements and warnings are supposed to carry weight and to lead to action. We have rights as a consequence of being human, not because of who we are or where we happen to live.
It is shattering to see that so many innocent lives – and principles so many of us stand by and believe in – are being disregarded in this way.
This is the continuation of decades of selective defense of human rights – not the sudden loss of a moral center. It is the consequence of treating some lives as important and others as disposable. It is the culmination of the shameless way UN Security Council countries pick and choose which countries to criticise or ignore, and which to help and defend, while the numbers of people forcibly displaced by violence has more than doubled in a decade globally – Sudanese, Syrians, Afghans, Ukrainians and Palestinians among them.
None of this is happening by accident. It is intentional.
This includes the choice by governments to ignore these warnings, while the death toll rises with every passing day.
This reshapes the world. Shocking new precedents are being set that will mean that civilians are even more vulnerable in conflict in the future than they are today. Whether from starvation, or attacks on hospitals or schools.
Those who have the power to uphold international humanitarian law, but do nothing, share responsibility.
The things we tolerate come to define us. | Posted on 07/Sep/2025 08:35:16
