World Central Kitchen and shattered hopes

MEHMET KASAPOĞLU

One of the greatest tragedies in human history is unfolding in Gaza right before the eyes of the world. Over 35,000 civilians, including more than 10,000 children, have lost their lives. Everything living in Gaza has fallen victim to this Israeli oppression. Hospitals have been bombed. Places of worship have been bombed. Parks, animals, trees have been bombed. Recently, a refugee camp in Rafah was bombed, resulting in the martyrdom of dozens of innocent people. At present, every square meter of Gaza, including schools, workplaces, sports fields, and social facilities, is covered with huge piles of rubble. While Israel meticulously commits every war crime, the rest of the world can do nothing but wait helplessly in the face of this brutality. 

Following the Gaza agenda, I was reminded of Jean Baudrillard’s work “Simulacra and Simulation.” In this work, the postmodern thinker, who explores topics such as media, consumer culture, simulation, and reality, argues that the perception of reality is manipulated by media and simulation. Reality is no longer a natural phenomenon but a copy produced by simulation, and this copy has overshadowed the original reality. 

Baudrillard deepens his view with the example of the Iraq War. Approaching the Iraq War from the perspective of media and communication technologies, he argues that the reality of the war cannot be directly experienced by people and is perceived through the presentations of the media. According to him, the images and information presented by the media do not fully reflect reality; instead, they offer a simulation constructed by the media. Baudrillard suggests that the reality of the war can no longer be directly perceived and that people experience the war by watching it on television screens as if they were watching a movie. Therefore, he evaluates the Iraq War as a simulation perceived through the media rather than reality. 

When we look at the global reflections of the massacres committed by Israel in Gaza, we see exactly this. Maybe social media has taken the place of television, but societies do not fully grasp the nature of the real destruction there. The brutality is presented to us all in small videos through frames, and we perceive Israel’s oppression only as long as the duration of the videos, then turn our minds to other subjects. This turns the “real” extinction happening in Gaza into merely a social media content for everyone. It becomes impossible to build empathy for the people who have been living in this massacre for months. Worst of all, we become accustomed to the deaths of children and the bombing of innocents. 

For example, we recently learned that a team serving under World Central Kitchen lost their lives in an attack organized by Israeli forces. World Central Kitchen is an international non-governmental organization consisting mostly of Western volunteers that organizes hot meal distributions to those in need around the world during extraordinary times such as war and natural disasters. After the earthquakes on February 6, they had briefly assisted the Ministry of Youth and Sports team in the “Heart Kitchen” we established at the Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi Dormitory in İskenderun, Hatay. With their support, we were able to deliver 17 million meals to those in need. We know World Central Kitchen and the team members who worked for this organization for their sincere efforts. Israel mercilessly killed the WCK team who set out to distribute hot meals to people. Among the seven aid volunteers who lost their lives, some were individuals we personally knew who had come to help earthquake victims in Hatay. We will remember the humanitarian aid workers of WCK for their determination to help desperate people at the risk of their own lives. 

The bombing news of the seven volunteers from World Central Kitchen unfortunately did not receive the attention it deserved worldwide. It did not get as much media coverage as it should have. The voices of the civil society organizations that should have raised their voices and stood up were again muted. There is no sign of the expected pressure against Israel. Netanyahu, on the other hand, broke a new record in brazenness with a statement in the vein of “These things happen.” Even in a war environment, the deliberate targeted killing of an international aid organization did not attract as much attention as we expected from the world and civil society. The incident was given very little coverage on some social media accounts and main news broadcasts, and the subject was quickly passed over. We read, saw, and watched it like a simulation and immediately changed the subject. The “reality” was replaced by the images seen on screens, and as always, it stayed there. 

Undoubtedly, the media has the power to direct and frame perceptions, but feeling the pain and empathizing is a necessity of being human. We will not be prisoners of simulations and simulacra. We will not forget any detail of what happened during this process. We will always remember this oppression carried out by Israel. Our hearts, minds, and prayers will continue to be united with the people of Gaza and the free state of Palestine. 

Finally, I extend my condolences and patience to the entire World Central Kitchen family and the families of those who lost their lives in the Israeli attacks. All efforts and labor put forth for the dignity of humanity will strengthen our belief in peace. 

Dr. Mehmet Kasapoğlu