AS the last echoes of Eid faded across the Muslim world, Gaza remained shackled to a nightmare. A pall of gloom, despair and despondency smothered what should have been a celebration of joy, exuberance and excitement. The air, thick with smoke and grief, continued to tremble with the echoes of airstrikes and sniper fire on Eid.

Just imagine the global reaction had this happened on Christmas, or even New Year`s eve, in a Christian community.

But this was Gaza, and, therefore, Eid rituals lay buried beneath the rubble.

Emboldened by global impunity, Zionist warlords continue to rain fire with renewed force and ferocity. The question is no longer how what is happening is actually happening, but why it is being allowed to happen.

Over 62,000 Palestinians has so far lost their lives, with 18,000 of them being children. Yet, the self-acclaimed architects of human rights draft hollow resolutions, and then veto even those harmless resolutions.

Gaza`s traumatised children deserve more than fleeting pity. They deserve rebuilt schools, unbroken access to learning, and the right to chase theirdreams instead of fleeing armoured tanks.

They did deserve an Eid unmarred by the stench of death. This is precisely what they did not get. This is not just Palestine`s crisis; it is humanity`s reckoning.

If we let Gaza`s children become ghosts of indifference, we surrender our claim to civilisation.

This Eid passed amid carnage. Let the next Eid dawn with books, not bombs, and with swings, not snipers.

Qamer Soomro Shikarpur