20/09/2025
A Holy Land Cannot Rise on Mass Graves
The cry of every parent who has buried a child in war is simple: no land, no ideology, no religion is worth the blood of the innocent. Yet in conflicts across the world, from Gaza to Ukraine to forgotten battlefields in Africa and Asia, children continue to pay the highest price for the ambitions of adults.
“You cannot build a Holy Land for your children on the mass graves of other children.” These words cut to the heart of humanity’s failure. Every government that justifies civilian deaths as “collateral damage,” every leader who claims a divine right to conquer, and every fighter who sees the enemy’s child as less than their own must reckon with this truth.
History shows us that nations raised on mass killings carry scars for generations. In the Philippines, memories of martial law, massacres, and displacement still haunt communities. In other countries, wars fought in the name of freedom or faith left behind not only ruins but also bitterness that fuels fresh cycles of violence. A homeland soaked in children’s blood cannot be holy—it can only be cursed.
International law calls for the protection of civilians, especially children, in armed conflict. Yet treaties and conventions mean little when bombs fall on schools, when hospitals become targets, and when refugee camps turn into gravesites. Global outrage often fades after headlines move on, but the survivors never forget.
For leaders who speak of God, justice, or destiny, the measure of their righteousness lies not in the lands they claim but in the lives they protect. True holiness is not marked by borders but by compassion; not by conquest but by mercy.
No nation, no religion, no ideology can ever be sanctified if its foundation is the grave of a child. If we truly seek peace, let us remember: the soil of innocence can grow only flowers, never flags.
