Words can feel futile at a time like this. If they could make a difference, they would probably have done so by now. Decades of violence and hatred have largely proved immune to the power of the spoken word to find a peaceful solution in the Middle East.
But words are all that British politicians have in the present circumstances. And you have to keep on believing even when it looks like we’re heading towards another war. At the very least, though, words can acknowledge the horror. To recognise its existence, even when powerless to influence the outcome. So that no one’s pain, no one’s loss, no existential threat is covered up or minimised. To stand up and be counted. A message of support at a time of grief. A fury contained.
