Blood Drips from the Rubble
Any justification for what the Israeli government and military are doing in Palestine – Gaza and the West Bank – has long since been exhausted.
Photo via Al Jezeera - “Palestinians evacuate a wounded woman following Israeli air raids in Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza, on December 7, 2023. [Mohammed Dahman/AP Photo]”
Patches of fresh blood shimmer from the chunks of concrete, twisted rebar gnarled up around their edges. A Palestinian man rushes away from the video camera, a child in his arms. The little boy can’t be more than three years old. He’s unconscious. There’s a huge gash in his forehead and blood spatters all over his face, arms and torn, filthy shirt front. Bombed out buildings and rubble as far as one can see. Black smoke. Burning cars. People rushing to help. Onlookers in shock, crying….
This is Gaza.
Green & Red
As a U.S. citizen, I cannot adequately express my anger, disappointment and disgust regarding the U.S. government’s financial and political support of the 75-year oppression of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, the current, unfolding genocide in Gaza and the aggravation of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers and “settlers.”
Further, the actions of the United States at the United Nations Security Council are appalling. It says something about a nation’s soul when it is the sole vote against a resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
It’s a case when standing alone is not an act of courage, but of complicity.
Any justification for what the Israeli government and military are doing to Palestinians in Gaza and The West Bank since October 7 has long since been exhausted. So has any used to justify the past 75 years of colonialist occupation of Palestinian lands and enforcement of apartheid conditions there.
The United States is showing its true colors as these tragedies unfold. Red, white and blue? No. Cash green and blood red on its hands.
To Be Clear
I am not an antisemite.
I do not deny Israel’s right to exist.
I do not support Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran or any other terrorist organization or oppressive government.
I vehemently oppose any effort by anyone to oppress, vilify or wipe out anyone else based on race, religion, beliefs or practices, so long as the religion, beliefs or practices do not harm others.
I do not blame all Israelis for the actions of the government that controls their country. How could I, when I fervently oppose the funding of unfolding genocide in Gaza and worsening violence in The West Bank by the government that controls my country? The cash isn’t going to stop flowing because of my opposition.
Nevertheless, what the Israeli government and military are doing in Gaza and The West Bank must stop, and so must the United States’ financial and political support for it.
The United States is showing its true colors as these tragedies unfold. Red, white and blue? No. Cash green and blood red on our hands.
Stop the Slaughter in Palestine!
My resentment toward the governments of Israel and the USA has only increased since the October 28 publication of my first post about this disaster, “Stop the Slaughter in Gaza.”
It has grown in lockstep with a Palestinian death toll that reportedly now exceeds 20,000, the majority of them innocent civilians.
Comments on that post were not especially surprising.
“Questionable source. Their attitude of dismissal of antisemitism is appalling. Have you called for Hamas to surrender?”
“… Hamas struck first. They (Israelis) have the right to defend themselves. Hamas has often been know (sic) to hide behind civilian schools hospitals and masques. So before you criticize do some research.”
Not unexpected, but certainly interesting given that right up front I stated, “The October 7 attacks on innocent Israelis by Hamas were despicable, inhumane, tragic.”
Regrettably, the careless way “Antisemitism!” is now being tossed around, you’d think it was a backyard football on a sunny October Saturday afternoon. Instead, in too many cases, it’s a misguided vilification thrown forcefully at anyone and anything that dares question the actions of the Israeli government, actions that, in my judgement, amount to apartheid for more than 75 years and genocide over the past 2½ months.
As for the suggestion to do research, funny thing about that – diving into the history of Palestine and Israel has only, as I said before, “…made me furious with myself; I should have been paying closer attention long before now.”
A friend pointed out you have to look at causes, that the organizations/governments that fund Hamas are the root cause of the rape, murder and abduction perpetrated on Israeli citizens on October 7th.
Agreed.
Yet I also agree with Jeremy Scahill, who, writing in The Intercept on December 11, said:
“The horrifying nature of the October 7 attacks led by Hamas do not in any way — morally or legally — justify what Israel has done to the civilian population of Gaza, more than 18,000 of whom have died in a 60-day period. Nothing justifies the killing of children on an industrial scale.
“Without question, the perpetrators who meted out the horrors against Israeli civilians on October 7 should be held accountable. But that is not what this collective killing operation is about. And journalists should stop pretending it is.”
Videos Out of Gaza Don’t Lie
Another video. An unarmed teenager is shot down in the street. In another, wounded Palestinians under huge slabs of concrete plead for help. In another, a wailing woman carries a dead toddler wrapped in a sheet away from a hospital. In yet another, a newsman breaks down in grief hen a colleague whispers in his ear that his wife and daughters have died in a blast.
I read about a Palestinian family that has lost nearly 90 husbands, wives, siblings, grandmothers and cousins to Israeli bombs and firearms. Another is the story of a husband and wife who return day after day to clear rubble from what used to be their home, searching for their eight children who were inside when Israel bombed it. A third speaks of doctors forced to abandon premature babies in an ICU. The babies were left to stave.
Academics and humanitarian organizations have begun conflating the Israeli military operation and the concept of “domicide,” or “the mass destruction of dwellings to make the territory uninhabitable.”
The generation in charge must really hate TikTok and Instagram and mobile phones right about now; they can no longer lurk in the shadows as they bankroll and wage war on innocents, confident the party line they feed to mainstream media will dictate the narrative.
You can try to tell me these videos and stories are all fake. That they don’t provide the full context. They’re propaganda put out by Hamas, Iran or some other group/country. They aren’t the real story.
But that simply doesn’t hold the seawater Israel is now pumping into tunnels under Gaza, potentially poisoning the region’s drinking water not just for today or next month, but for decades to come.
Genocide. Domicide. Infanticide. You still want to tell me Israel is not trying erase Palestinians from Gaza once and for all? Go ahead; give it your best shot.
Call Me What You Like. I Know What’s Right.
Israel has no right to systematically oppress, imprison and murder people they don’t like, people who, by the way, Israel’s leaders have publicly called “animals.”
No, I am not an antisemite. Prior to this conflict I was not anti-Israeli government, either. But I am now.
To quote (as close as I can recall) a protest sign I saw in a news photo recently: