Humanity has deserted us

I am blown away by the incapability of our leaders to demonstrate humanity.?

I normally don’t post this kind of thing on LinkedIn, but reading the latest self-serving drivel from our Home Secretary Suella Braverman left me with such sadness that I had to put something on paper.?

Braverman has gone out of her way to claim that allowing a protest calling for a ceasefire in Gaza is demonstrative of police bias, referring to them as “pro-Palestinian mobs”. This is the latest in a string of instances where Braverman, responsible for ensuring our communities are safe and secure, has spouted pure hate and vitriol, stoking divisions and inciting violence.?

She talked of an “invasion” of migrants. She called the pro-Palestinian protests “hate marches”. She said that the multiculturalism, so vital to the fabric of modern Britain has “failed”.?

The fact that it is remotely possible to repeatedly, publicly make such incendiary remarks, to the point where even her own colleagues are calling her comments “unhinged” and referring to her “awfulness” is totally baffling to me.?

It seems blatantly obvious that Braverman is the last person you want in a complex role that requires compassion, nuance, and humanity.?

It’s also plain to see that Braverman is not a public servant. She doesn’t seem to engage with evidence around the best ways to serve the people and communities she was elected to represent. Instead, these shock and awe tactics of hate and division solely serve to promote her own interests and pursuit of power, appealing to a vocal minority on the right wing of the Conservative Party. This should never be what governing is about, and politicians should be held accountable when their actions are so evidently not in the public interest.?

While Braverman may be one of the most overtly despicable in demonstrating this trait, it’s on display everywhere. National and world leaders have a responsibility, first and foremost, to show humanity. It was clear with Braverman well before the Israel-Hamas war that this was something she lacked. More broadly, however, the Western response to the unfolding crisis shows that compassion for our fellow men, women and children, has abandoned us.?

Yes, Hamas should be condemned and we should call for the release of innocent Israeli hostages, obviously. No, the destruction of the entirety of Gaza, along with the murder of thousands of innocent children is not a proportionate response, obviously. With no sign of these tactics stopping, and a tragic and undeniable humanitarian crisis playing out in front of our eyes, calls for a ceasefire are reasonable, and do not amount to anti-Israeli sentiment or anti-semitism - obviously.?

This is barely even a nuanced thought. It is two or three logical steps in response to the events happening. This is too much for most, however. Everything is so highly sensitive and highly politicised that calling for an end to the massacring of thousands of Palestinians is controversial. So controversial that members of the government are actively trying to shut down a peaceful protest calling for it.

Yes, history is complex. Yes, politics is complex. Yes, it will be challenging to come to a long term solution. Is calling for an end to senseless human suffering complex? No.?

It’s so easy to lose sight of the fact that it’s people who suffer. In another time, in another era, those people could have been us, desperately crying for aid, and for a stop to the destruction of our homes and livelihoods, only to see the world turn a blind eye as our leaders play politics, clinging on to the strings of power.?

When you strip it back to that, it’s so obvious. Start from the perspective that innocent people should not suffer needlessly, and work out from there. View those people as of the same value as those in your own country, because they are. With this mindset, compassion and empathy can be at the core of the decisions we make, and allow us to see through the politics and the serving of private interests, to the facts of the matter.?

This is of course, naive, as powerful private interests are not going to stop putting pressure on our leaders. We, the public, therefore, need to do everything within our power to hold our leaders accountable, and demonstrate that the kind of hate spouted by Suella Braverman will not be tolerated from those who claim to represent us.

That’s why this protest matters, and why attempts to shut it down are nakedly self-serving.?