Over the past few months, Gaza has become the scene of a systemic crisis: widespread and indiscriminate bombing, deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure, and the slow death of an entire people. Children are dying of thirst. An entire people is being collectively punished, in flagrant violation of the Geneva Conventions and international law.

What we are witnessing today is not a military operation, it is a gradual process of annihilation. And what we hear all too often in diplomatic circles is not caution, it is the complicit silence born of political calculations. Can we, as parliamentarians, continue to avert our gaze?

No! Silence is no longer an option.

History will not judge our intentions, but rather our actions. History will remember those who, in times of crisis, raised their voices in protest while others looked the other way.

Our inaction would be an act of abdication. Our silence would be complicity. We, as parliamentarians, have the capacity and the power to make a difference through the powerful instrument of parliamentary diplomacy. In contrast to what is commonly believed, parliamentary diplomacy is not a ceremonial appendage. It is the free voice of the people, the voice of conscience, and sometimes even the last bastion upholding international honour.

Therefore, I appeal today to all parliamentarians of conscience, both within the OIC and beyond.

We must act! And we must act now by:

Adopting clear, firm and unequivocal resolutions condemning the crimes committed in Gaza and demanding an immediate ceasefire;

Coordinating our efforts within national parliaments to put pressure on international institutions and force the opening of safe humanitarian corridors;

Establishing an inter-parliamentary mechanism for monitoring, alerting and demonstrating solidarity, in order to document violations, raise global awareness and support reconstruction;

Demanding the immediate lifting of the blockade, in line with international humanitarian law and the relevant UN resolutions; and finally;

Supporting, unconditionally, the recognition of a free, independent and sovereign Palestinian state.

Article by: M. Aboubacar Tambedou, Head of the Delegation of the National Assembly of Senegal to the UPCI