There is nothing to celebrate on this International Human Rights Day

As the people of Gaza struggle to survive, International Human Rights Day rings hollow unless real change is made

A child near a school belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) where displaced Palestinians set up makeshift tents while Israeli attacks strike in Khan Yunis, Gaza, last month. Children are starving, have been left orphaned and without an education. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images

The concept of human rights is as old as civilisation itself. But it is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, that gave birth to human rights as they are known today, and the subsequent conventions to uphold them legally.

Born out of the unthinkable atrocities that took place during the Second World War, the world wanted to say never again. 1948 was also the year that an estimated 750,000 Palestinians were forced to flee their homes, lands and communities in fear of violence perpetrated by violent militias and, later, the Israeli military.