There is still hope. On July 24, in central train stations in multiple cities in the Netherlands, citizens staged sit-ins to protest the deliberate starvation and ongoing genocide in Gaza. These acts of courage, participated in by our Charter partners and in particular, Let Love Rule Peace Tree organizers, are beacons of moral clarity in a world that too often remains silent in the face of atrocity.

Each of us has watched in anguish as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and across Palestine deepens by the day. Many of us are doing what we can within our own circles and organizations—but when we ask ourselves: Is it enough? Clearly, it is not.

As members of the Charter for Compassion community, we are committed to a world rooted in justice, equity, and shared humanity. We cannot stand by and be silent. We cannot be neutral in the face of genocide. It is time to act—together, publicly, and powerfully.

Credible reports from Oxfam, Médecins Sans Frontières, Amnesty International, and the UN Human Rights Council confirm that between 150 and 250 Palestinians are being killed each day. Thousands more face displacement, starvation, and trauma. These are not statistics—they are children, parents, elders. They are people, and they are us.

We believe, as the late U.S. Congressman and civil rights hero John Lewis taught us, that we must get into good trouble, necessary trouble to uphold justice. Now is such a time.

What Can We Do?

We call on all members of our global network to rise in coordinated, compassionate resistance:

• Organize local sit-ins and peaceful demonstrations in high-traffic areas to bear witness and demand action.
• Host teach-ins and public conversations—online or in-person—to inform your communities of the historical context and current crisis.
• Flood the offices of elected officials—with emails, calls, and in-person visits—to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire and full humanitarian access to Gaza.
• Create or join letter-writing campaigns to media outlets and political leaders urging them to name the genocide and speak out. Insist that our local, regional, national news outlets broadcast the news accurately and fully.
• Engage faith communities, civic organizations, and schools to stand in moral solidarity and take visible, public positions.
• Support relief organizations providing medical care, food, and shelter on the ground.
• Amplify Palestinian voices through art, music, storytelling, and social media. Do not let the world look away.

Silence is complicity. We must not allow compassion to be passive. It must be active, it must be loud, and it must be global.

From The Netherlands to Nairobi, from Santiago to San Francisco—let us rise. Let us push beyond comfort and convenience. Let us remember that compassion, in its truest form, is courageous.

Let us get into necessary trouble—for the sake of peace, for the sake of justice, and for the sake of our shared humanity.

The Charter for Compassion