TEHRAN - Just days after Israel initiated its genocidal assaults on the blockaded Gaza Strip, the Iranian youth felt compelled to demonstrate unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian cause in a more outreaching manner. 

Over 10 million individuals have now joined a pro-Palestine campaign named “You are dealing with me”, showcasing their readiness to stand alongside Palestinians by direct confrontation with Israeli forces in the occupied territories. The registration process is still on-going and the number of registrations is increasing at any moment.

Iranians are not the only people in West Asia that have felt the need to stand directly against Israel. Hundreds of Iraqi protesters gathered at Iraq's main border crossing with Jordan last month, asking to be granted entry into the occupied territories. 

Israel has so far killed over 13,000 Palestinians while it continues to deny more than 2.3 million people water, food, and fuel. Over 70% of the lives it’s taken belong to women and children. The regime attacks hospitals, schools, and refugee camps with no compunction as it seems to possess an undying zeal to murder Palestinians. 

With a full-scale tragedy unfolding before the eyes of the world, millions of individuals in the region find it difficult to carry on with their regular lives, deeply troubled by the callous massacres taking place in Gaza. The knowledge that women and children are enduring the most brutal forms of violence has left them unable to find peace at night, particularly as international bodies and several regional states appear inactive in the face of such heinous acts. To them, potential targeting by Israeli forces becomes a lesser burden compared to living without a sense of moral responsibility.

The support for Palestine, however, has extended beyond West Asia, becoming an increasingly pervasive sentiment around the globe.

While Western leaders continue to stay on Israel’s side of the ledger, their untrammeled support for the regime has laid bare a widening chasm between politicians and common masses in the West.

Western citizens who are being forced to pony up Israel’s costs of war through their taxes, have been filled with horror after witnessing the distressing plight of the Palestinians people.

The pictures of Gaza bandying about on social media seem to have moved people from all walks of life. The sight of a mother cradling the lifeless body of her toddler or children wallowing in their own blood, and dismembered limbs peeking out of rubbles, has prodded people in the West to take to the streets in large numbers. 

From London to Paris, Berlin to New York, people have taken it upon themselves to stand the ground for Palestinians. Despite having mainstream Western media in full swing to propagate anti-Palestine lies, support for Israel appears to be eroding around the globe. The regime is now being caught in its 75-year-old lies and remains unable to prevent the tragic images of the Gaza Strip from proliferating on social media. 

While reports show that the Israeli regime has been paying social media companies to promote videos designed to cultivate support for its war on Gaza, it has so far failed to garner any meaningful support. That’s because people no longer tolerate being lied to; that train has left the station. They are finally seeing Israeli and Western politicians for who they really are and are willing to do everything in their power to help the oppressed people of Palestine. They know they will most probably never be sent to fight Israeli soldiers in the occupied territories, but still want to show their solidarity with Palestinians through symbolic moves like the “You are dealing with me” campaign.