Who will protect the innocent?
Targeting civilians and activists who stand for peace and justice is seemingly in vogue today. Viral doxing and smear campaigns, unjust arrest and detention, and indiscriminate mass murder with weapons of war are the tools of the powerful with little accountability. From students and foreign nationals legally residing in the United States to the ongoing brutality and war crimes in Gaza and Ukraine, innocent people are being actively targeted, intimidated, and killed—right now.
Overnight it was reported that Russia launched a large-scale air attack against Ukraine and its capital, Kyiv, targeting civilian centers where dozens are reported missing, injured, or killed.[1] Innocent people who did not seek, invite, or begin the war with Russia are digging their loved ones and neighbors out from under the rubble today. Meanwhile, in Gaza, Israeli bombs rain down on the few remaining places that are sheltering families, severely injuring and killing dozens daily.[2] Additionally, a full blockade of food, water, clothing, medicine, and fuel continues. A devastating humanitarian crisis is unfolding as the world apathetically reads the headlines and innocent Palestinian children are orphaned, killed, or die of illness. There is no question that genocide of the Palestinian people is occurring in the Middle East at the hands of Israel funded by the United States.
Just as troubling is the systematic targeting of individuals who stand for the innocent in promoting justice for all people. They are activists, students, lawyers, faith leaders, and everyday civilians who believe human rights are universal. Their message, while often fractured and localized, is a shared one of hope and change—human rights equally applied to everyone makes the world a more peaceful place.
Innocent people are being actively targeted, intimidated, and killed—right now.
People like Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian graduate of Columbia University, is currently awaiting his fate in an ICE detention center far from his wife, newborn child, and community. Since taking office, the Trump administration has used the immigration system along with the arbitrary application of wartime laws and executive orders to operate an intimidation campaign to silence opposition to injustice and violence. Rather than addressing the need for democratic values and the protection of human rights worldwide, political discourse and policy have been focused on mass migration at our nation’s borders. Resulting from policy failures over decades of mismanagement and inaction, mass migration is now being cynically framed as an “invasion” of “murderers,” “terrorists,” and “antisemitic ideology.” Rather than envisioning the hope of fundamental human rights and democracy for a world struggling to survive, America is leaving everyone to fend for themselves—its citizens included.
Writing from his crowded cell, Khalil offers a warning to those of us living unaffected in the comfort and convenience of the moment, “A democracy for some is no democracy at all.”[3] Unquestionably, democracy is a mere idea of self-governance that’s messy and imperfect. However, at its core, there is a vision for a more hopeful future where power is tamed, held accountable, and shared among all. It’s an idea where freedom, justice, and peace for every person are guaranteed over oppression, violence, and tyranny.
Human rights equally applied to everyone makes the world a more peaceful place.
Today, we use concepts like diversity, equity, and inclusion to portray the more advanced ideals of self-governance and a democratic state. While not enshrined in the constitution verbatim, the underlying values are implied and must evolve with time. If we are successful, we will have built upon and scaled our cherished values envisioned 250 years ago with the founding of our nation. Our progress can lead to new awakenings and movements of enduring justice, peace, and resilience.
The moment, however, is critical. Respect for the ideals of holism and universalism will become all the more important in the coming decades as technology shortens the bridge to human connection and collaboration. As advanced forms of artificial intelligence come online, humanity will need values that evolve with the challenges these disruptive innovations and opportunities will create. From human flourishing to sustainable practices that see everyone and everything as interconnected, our future existence depends on the evolution of a new awakening.
Hope is the pursuit of change for everyone, everywhere. Isolation, segregation, and oppression do violence to our neighbors, ourselves, and the message of the God we claim to worship. The consequential question of our time is this: Who will protect the innocent? When violence against humanity and our planet is at stake, there is no middle ground. We are either standing with the protectors or the perpetrators.
[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/air-defence-units-action-around-kyiv-officials-say-2025-04-23/
[3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/04/17/mahmoud-khalil-columbia-student-ice-detention/
Matt Till 