Nancy's Notes

There are some things I’ve avoided writing about. Not because I don’t care, but because I care so deeply. I’m afraid I’ll say the wrong thing. I worry that I don’t know enough. I worry that someone will be offended. But some images burn so deeply into your brain that silence feels like complicity. And today I didn’t allow myself to scroll past. I forced myself to look at every one of those images.

You know the ones I mean. The images coming out of Gaza, of children starving, of skeletal babies with wide eyes and no voice left to cry are more than I can bear. And more than anyone should bear.

Let’s put something on the table right now: Hamas is a terrorist organization. It has done enormous harm, not only to Israel but to its own people. That is not in dispute. I’m not here to defend terrorists. No one should be. But this is one of those times when more than one thing can be true at the same time.

We can condemn Hamas AND condemn the deliberate blockade of food to civilians.

We can mourn the horrific attacks of October 7 AND be outraged at a policy of collective punishment that leaves children to die of hunger.

We can believe in Israel’s right to exist AND still demand that humanitarian law be followed by everyone.

And so here it is: no child on this planet should be starving. No child should be shot at while trying to reach food. And yet we are seeing both. In real time. On our screens. And the world is fumbling through excuses. Some claim that Hamas steals the food, that they’re to blame. But let’s talk facts. The United Nations and the World Food Programme, highly trained, internationally respected humanitarian bodies are not being permitted to run this operation. Why? Because the U.S. and Israel say they’ll “handle it.” But they are NOT handling it.

The World Food Programme has publicly stated they are ready to deploy 400 aid distribution sites to avoid the kind of chaos that leads to violence and desperation. But they are being blocked. Not invited to the table. And what a bitter irony, people starving, and we’re locking out the people with food.

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, also prepared and willing, is being sidelined. These organizations exist for moments exactly like this, war, disaster, famine, and yet they’re standing by with full capacity while children die.

Tonight, Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a statement. And while I’ve been critical that he maybe wasn’t speaking out enough, this was important: “Canada condemns the Israeli government’s failure to prevent the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian disaster in Gaza. Israel’s control of aid distribution must be replaced by comprehensive provision of humanitarian assistance led by international organizations. Many of these are holding significant Canadian-funded aid which has been blocked from delivery to starving civilians. This denial of humanitarian aid is a violation of international law.”

From me to PM Carney: ” Thank you for taking this step. For saying out loud what needed to be said. But this is only the beginning. We need more than condemnation. We need action. Canada must now push harder, louder, and with real urgency to ensure that aid flows. Words matter. But what you do next matters more.”

Under international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions, civilians must be protected during conflict. Aid must be allowed to flow. Blocking it is not just immoral. It’s illegal. Some will respond to this with more “What about Hamas?” noise. But I’m going to say it clearly: I’m not entertaining that in this post. I know what Hamas is. We all do. But if your outrage ends there, and doesn’t extend to starving children then it’s not really outrage, is it? It’s politics. And politics should never be more important than human life.

We don’t know when this war will end. Maybe not for a long time. But we can’t wait for peace to begin humanitarian aid. When my children were young, they’d get up from their comfy beds, eat breakfast, cereal, toast, maybe pancakes on weekends, and head off to school. There were swimming lessons, football practice, and rainy movie nights curled up in the fifth wheel.

I know not every child in North America has that life. My kids knew that too. We talked about it. We volunteered. We supported programs in our community to help those who had less. This is not comparable. In North America, even when families struggle, food exists. Programs exist. There is no systemic blockade between a child and their survival. What’s happening in Gaza isn’t poverty. It’s manufactured starvation. It’s children dying not because there’s no food, but because we are refusing to let it reach them. Mothers are burying children with bloated bellies and sunken eyes. Kids are dying, not just from bombs but from emptiness.

So I’m done staying quiet. I’m done worrying about who I’ll offend. Because if this offends you, if demanding food for children offends you, then I don’t think we’re on the same team.

I am an Albertan. I am a Canadian. But ultimately, I am a citizen of the world. And as a citizen of the world, I have to scream this: We need to let the aid in. Now.

Please speak up. No matter what country you’re in. Contact your MP, your congressperson, your representative. Write. Share. Demand that humanitarian organizations like the UN, the World Food Programme, and the Red Crescent be allowed to do their jobs.

The war may not be over. But the starvation can be. If you can scroll past starving children and still argue about politics, you’re not defending your values, you’re burying them.