Domestic Violence Needs to End

I am ashamed today, I have been violated in my own home, abused by someone who thinks they can do whatever they want with disregard and disrespect for my life, liberty and happiness. Domestic violence is a very strange thing, it eats you alive, it quiets your soul, and it does not let you think straight. Abusers will never change, but there need to be laws that punish them and make them understand they cannot be violent. The people who suffer most are children. Women are at stake, but what is very hard to see is children suffering.

I call Gaza a domestic violence situation, Israel and Palestine are directed by radicals who do not care about the suffering of children. When I see a baby dying at the hands of Israel, I think of a flower growing in a garden where the gardener has watered it for nine months to make it live to its fullest. Here comes a monster and steps on it, it kills the life that was given to us by a miracle, by our own mother.

Abuse happens domestically, internationally, at home and in political conflicts. The same story is recurring as to who wants to show who is bigger and stronger. I stand with Palestine and condemn the actions of Israel against children who are dying of malnutrition, who are hoping that someone omnipotent, someone above them will bring reassurance and peace to the environment that their mothers created. I stand with the women of Palestine who are saying goodbye to their sons and daughters, who have nothing but a God above that they hope, will help them understand what is happening to them.

Hunger is not a comedy, it hurts, physically and mentally. Hunger is a sophisticated method to kill each other, and only human beings are capable of this crime. Just like we are capable of creating symphonies, of building the most amazing towers and of creating the greatest inventions, humans are the most cruel and capable of committing crimes against each other.

I want to bring awareness to the mothers of Palestine who have given all up for their children and have lost it all. I want to praise the men who are fighting to bring if only a little bit of support to their families, with their own hands, with their own feet, fighting like lions, like the beasts that the world has made them become. There is no grey area here, Israel needs to stop starving the people of Palestine and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu must at all cost care for our counterparts, for our fellow human beings suffering in Gaza.

I know for a fact that we have no idea about what really goes behind closed doors, we are just touching the surface, and there is no forgiveness that can cure the pain of the people of Palestine. Wars are ugly and stupid for the sake of power. We must be mindful and remember that we are part of the world and that perhaps this is also happening to us, as we sit back and watch the news and pray that things will happen without taking any action.

I lost my father a few years ago, and the legacy that he left was that of finding the truth. People will paint a picture of their situation, but reality is much different. In the United States, I have been a victim of abuse by my partner, by cruel people in the streets that I called home at some point. And today, I am ashamed to say that abusers will continue to abuse if we let them. We need to stand up to the tide, we must fight and understand that fighting means, in fact, pointing the finger and telling the world who is guilty. Those who have committed heinous crimes must pay, with jail and with the death that they have imposed on others.

Growing up in Colombia, I was unaware of the violence that surrounded me because I believed in goodness. And today, I sit here in front of my computer denying everything that I learned. But many people were right, people who told me that we will not do the right thing unless we are threatened with punishment and so, punishment exists for a reason, and the reason is to make people do good for the world.

Call me crazy if you want, but the last time I checked the world was in disarray, the police came to our homes and ignored us and assaulted us, our jails were filled with innocent people, and perpetrators of crimes were running free in the streets killing innocents. I only hope that the future awaits with more stringent laws against those who do wrong for the world and those who instigate domestic violence.

It is my only hope that the future will show better outcomes and that no more pain and suffering go unpunished; that we are not blinded to the reality of our own lives.