I’ve been struggling with what to say in this urgent moment, something I’ve longed for but which has often seemed out of reach over the past 15 terrible months.

One of the questions I address is: What can I share with my readers that even remotely captures the meaning and depth of the apparent agreement to stop the mass murder of Palestinians?

I didn’t suffer. My home is intact. My family and I are still alive. We are warm, united and safe.

So, another pressing dilemma I faced was: Is this my place to write? I believe this space should be reserved for Palestinians to reflect on the horrors they have suffered and what is to come.

Of course, their voices will be heard here and elsewhere in the coming days and weeks. In this case, my voice is insignificant and, in this dire situation, almost irrelevant.

But if you, especially the Palestinians, are willing, this is what I will say.

I think there are four words, each of which in its own way means something to the good news that the guns are about to subside on Wednesday.

The first and perhaps most appropriate word is “relief.”

The “experts” will have ample time and opportunity to develop predictable scorecards of “winners” and “losers,” as well as the broader short- and long-term strategic implications of Wednesday’s trading.

More “experts” will also have ample time and opportunity to consider the political consequences of Wednesday’s deal for the Middle East, Europe and Washington, DC.

What I am most concerned about, and I suspect most Palestinians and their loved ones in Gaza and the occupied West Bank are also most concerned about is that peace has finally arrived.

How long this situation lasts is best brought up tomorrow. Today, let us all enjoy the relief of the dividends of peace.

Palestinian boys and girls dance with joy. After months of grief, loss and grief, joy returned. The smile is back. Hope is back.

Let us enjoy a satisfying relief, if not joy, in it.

Israel also breathed a sigh of relief.

The families of the surviving captives will soon be reunited with their brothers and sisters, daughters and sons, mothers and fathers they long to embrace again.

There is no doubt that they need care and attention to heal the wounds of their minds, souls, and bodies.

This would be another most welcome peace bonus.

The next word is “gratitude”.

Those of us who have watched horribly, day after day, as the brutal apartheid state methodically reduces Gaza to dust and memory, we feel an overwhelming sense of loss and helplessness, and we would like to express our deepest gratitude to the brave and determined helpers who Every effort was made to deescalate the situation. The pain and suffering of the besieged Palestinians.

We are eternally grateful to the countless nameless people in Gaza and countless places in the West Bank who took great risks, sacrificed many young and promising lives, and put the well-being of their Palestinian brothers and sisters above their own lives. own.

We must thank them for their selflessness and courage. They did their part. They walked into danger. They didn’t retreat. They stood firm. They held their ground. They rejected the purveyors of death and destruction who sought to erase their pride and dignity.

They remind the world that despite the occupiers’ efforts to suppress, humanity will prevail.

The third word is “recognize”.

The world must recognize the Palestinians’ steadfast resistance.

The occupier’s aim is to destroy the Palestinian will and spirit. This has been the intention of the occupiers for the past 75 years.

Once again the occupiers failed.

Palestinians are tireless. Like their brothers in Ireland and South Africa, they remained motionless.

They resisted being driven from their land because they were closely connected to it by faith and history. Their roots are too deep to be broken.

The Palestinians will determine their fate, not a marauding army led by racists and war criminals who adhere to the outdated notion that might makes right.

It will take more time and patience, but I believe that the sovereignty and redemption that the Palestinians have won with blood and heartache is not far from the horizon.

The last word is “shame”.

Some politicians and governments will forever be stigmatized for allowing Israel to commit genocide against the Palestinian people.

These politicians and governments will deny this. The evidence of their guilt is obvious. We can see it in images of Gaza’s apocalyptic landscape. We will record the names of more than 46,000 Palestinian victims.

That would be their shabby legacy.

Instead of preventing the mass murder of innocent people, they facilitated it. Rather than preventing hunger and disease from killing babies and children, they encouraged it. Instead of turning off the spigot of weapons, they delivered them. Instead of shouting “enough,” they spurred the killings to continue.

We will remember it. We won’t let them forget.

It is our duty: to ensure that they never escape the shame that will follow each of them like a long, disfiguring shadow in the setting sun.

Shame on them. Shame on all of them.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.