By Mazin Qumsiyeh
I received 27 positive emails and four negative ones in regards to my last email with an analysis of the situation here. I appreciate both. I also received a dozen emails asking about our safety in the West Bank now blockaded and we are kept in our separate holding pins like Bthlehem Ghetto. I respectfully urge all to read that opinion to the end and think deeply about root causes rather than get caught in the emotions of the moment: https://popular-resistance.
To follow up I provide some more links below of other reactions including from Jewish Voice for Peace. Please read with open minds and hearts.
A friend emailed me about a missing friend of hers likely captured by Hamas. Another friend called me from Rafah to report that his cousin, her husband, and their children were all killed when Israel bombed their residential building. There was another bombing in which 17 members of one family (Shayeb) were wiped out. A missile at a crowded market place killed 50. The stories keep flowing.
This latest sad escalation of violence has already left 800 Israelis and 600 Palestinians dead SO FAR. These are not numbers they are people.
The past 24 hours saw Israeli planes intensify their bombing of population centers. As in previous rounds of uptick in violence, the number of Palestinains killed (mostly civilians) will be many fold more than Israelis (and statements of wrath are too chilling). There will be a difference this time: Fuel, food, water, and medicine to the entire population of Gaza was halted by the occupation army (previously they were kept at a minimum to keep people alive but the economy devastated). Thus, this time people will start dying from lack of food or medicine. Gaza hospitals are running out of fuel to power their emergency generators. No matter your opinion of Hamas or Islamic Jihad or of Israeli apartheid system, civilians cannot be allowed to suffer like this. Here is the contact information of the person in the ministry of health if there is anyone on this list who can help with the issue of hospitals: Dr. Marwan Abu Sada, Director General, International Cooperation & Projects General Directorate, Ministry of Health, Mobile (Jawwal): +972 59-997-7704 Mobile (Ooredoo): +972 56-733-3308 Office: +972 8-282-6325 <icd@moh.gov.ps>
Israeli “Defense” Minister Yoav Gallant said bluntly: “I ordered a full siege on the Gaza Strip. No power, no food, no gas, everything is closed. We are fighting HUMAN ANIMALS and we act accordingly.” [When we hear such language, does it remind us of previous episodes in history. Warsaw ghetto uprsiing? Siox wars? Already the colonizer army is bombing many residential buildings, killed >50 shoppers in a market, and over 80 Palestinian children killed so far. It is as promised, the tip of the iceberg. Sadly even the hostages/prisoners held by Hamas are impacted and Israeli bombing in Gaza killed 4 Israeli captives plus their captors. Now Israel is also using white phosphorous (chemical weapons) in residential areas and is openly saying the war is against the entire population of Gaza].
For individual donations for medical needss in Gaza I recommend Medical Aid for Palestine (a UK charity) https://www.map.org.uk/news/
Palestinian Organizations Call for Immediate Action from the International Community to Stop Israel’s Reprisals against Palestinian Civilians https://pchrgaza.org/en/
From Breaking the Silence (Israeli ex-soldiers who speak out): “Hamas’s attack and the events unfolding since yesterday are unspeakable. We could talk about their cruel and criminal actions, or focus on how our Jewish-supremacist govt brought us to this point. But as former Israeli soldiers, our job is to talk about what we were sent to do”
Jewish Voice for Peace statement : The root of violence is oppression
https://www.
Chris Hedges statement
https://chrishedges.substack.
I reiterate something I said before: if people really want to end the threat of such groups as Hamas and Islamic Jihad (or for that matter right wing nutcases like Gallant, Netanyahu, Smotrich, and Ben Gvir), the ONLY way is to have human rights, equality and justice including the rights of refugees to return to their homes and lands. Jews, Muslims, Christians and others must live in one democratic free society. That is the only win-win scenario. All other options are lose-lose and have proven so over the past 75 years. Palestinians are not children of a lesser God.
Stay human (especially when it is hard to do)
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