 The enormous scale and horrific nature of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the persistence and determination with which Israel has carried out these crimes with "ironclad" U.S. backing is mindboggling. As of May 28, 2024, the U.S. backed Israeli genocide has thus far taken the lives of at least 36,096 people. Not included in that tally are thousands more likely dead under the rubble. A further 81,136 people have been injured during this vicious assault on Gaza (Stepansky and D’Amours 2024; Batrawy 2024). The unbridled brutality continues in complete disdain for every humanitarian principle, international law, and the highest courts. It is necessary to review some basic facts: Roughly, half of Gaza’s population is under the age of eighteen (Mohammed 2023). Israel imposed a brutal economic siege on Gaza in 2006 that has been in place ever since. In 2018, around 1.4 million Gazans were classified as refugees (Muhasen n.d.). Prior to the current genocide, 81% of Gaza’s population was classified as living in poverty, unemployment stood at around 46%, 95% of the population did not have stable access to clean water, 63% of the population was food insecure, and the unemployment rate was 46% (UNRWA 2023). Israel flagrantly violates the laws of war with frightening regularity. From October 2023 to March 2024, Israel conducted over 1,000 attacks on healthcare workers and facilities in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, in complete violation of the Geneva Conventions (ReliefWeb 2024). Israel has fired missiles at ambulance convoys (Al Jazeera 2023), and bombed multiple hospitals in Gaza. Satellite images show that Israeli bombings have destroyed six hospitals in Northern Gaza, ten in Gaza City, one in Deir el-Balah, and seven in Khan Yunis (AJLabs and Sanad Verification Agency 2024). Between the Al-Aqsa Flood attacks on October 7, 2023 to April 25, 2024, Israel killed 220 humanitarian workers (Knickmeyer and Santana 2024). This does not include any killed in the ongoing attacks on Rafah that have displaced hundreds of thousands of people once again. It is almost impossible to keep a tally of Israel’s daily atrocities; every report of the number of people killed is surely an undercount, while every day adds many new victims to the toll. The US-supported IDF has displaced the entirety of Gaza repeatedly. The IDF has bombed Gaza’s sanitation systems, regularly engages in torture, bombed refugee camps, bombed hospitals and ambulances, used starvation and thirst as a weapon against the entire population, committed multiple massacres, used internationally proscribed weaponry, bombed residential homes, and produced widespread psychological trauma to all Gazans- and to all of us who love humanity and stand with Palestine. Further, Israel “has obstructed ambulance crews from assisting injured civilians, leading to some patients bleeding to death” (ReliefWeb 2024). Israel has destroyed bakeries, and greenhouses while simultaneously preventing the delivery of food, water, medicines, and fuel (ibid). Israel has bombed the areas where they send refugees killing those that they have displaced, and have attacked and massacred civilians as they wait for humanitarian assistance (Cordall et al 2024; Al Salchi and Baba 2024). While on a completely new scale, these atrocities are not new but part of a long and disturbing pattern of Israeli violence. Israel has a long history of attacking Gaza’s healthcare and sanitation systems. During the Cast Lead invasion of Gaza in 2008-09, Israel damaged or destroyed 34 healthcare facilities, and bombed sewage treatment plants, housing, and water treatment plants (United Nations General Assembly’s Human Rights Council 2009; Canadian Medical Association 2009). The United States and Israel are doing this to a trapped population in a five by twenty-five mile strip of land for decades. It is impossible to imagine what Gazans have lived through for the past decades, and terrifying to even glimpse what they are currently experiencing. Gazans have been subjected to regular bombardments, and been shot at for the most minimal protest. The people of Gaza have suffered multiple murderous Israeli invasions: in 2008-9, 2014, 2021, 2022, in addition to having suffered the extremely violent repression of the Great March of Return in 2018-2019. During the Great March of Return, the IDF killed an estimated 214 Palestinians and Israeli snipers shot approximately 7000 Palestinians, including many in their knees imposing life-long crippling injuries. Due to these atrocities, 154 Palestinians suffered amputations. In addition, the IDF fired tear gas canisters and other forms of gas at protestors. In total, the IDF injured approximately 36,100 Gazans, around 8000 of which were children (Medical Aid for Palestinians 2024; Martin 2019). It is abundantly clear that Israel is committing genocide. It is clear that Israel is engaged in trying “to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group” in this case the Palestinians, fitting the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Just days after October 7, 2023, more than 800 scholars signed a public letter warning of a potential genocide (TWAILR 2023). After Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s announcement that Israel would cut off all food, fuel and water to Gaza and as Israel had begun bombing Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, Holocaust and genocide scholar Raz Seagal (2023) described Israel’s actions as a “textbook case of genocide”. Israeli leaders have been open about their intentions to starve the population, to create a catastrophe for Gazans that would lead to “zero population in Gaza” (TWAILR 2023). In January, Law for Palestine (2024) compiled a database of over 500 statements from Israeli decision makers, army personnel, journalists, and former governmental officials clearly demonstrating genocidal intent, dehumanization, and intent to harm civilians. These declarations further demonstrate the intention to impose collective punishment and forcibly displace the people of Gaza. This ongoing genocide is happening as the whole world is watching in spite of the millions protesting, International Court of Justice (ICJ) rulings, and United Nations statements demanding that this must stop. Even though the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the genocide continues unabated. The US and Israel continue to shred international law, while seeking to advance the aims of settler colonialists and military industrial firms, at the expense of the most basic and universal ethical principles. During the Nakba of 1947-1948, Israel carried out multiple massacres, erased entire villages and expelled approximately 750,000 Palestinians from their land. In Deir Yassin, Al Tantura and Al Dawaymeh (along with many others) Israel wiped out the villages inhabitants (Pappe 2006). Since then, Israel has brutally oppressed the people of Palestine with the goal of maintaining a Jewish majority in an ethno-nationalist state (Abuminah 2014). This intensified in 1967, through and beyond the Oslo accords as Israel utilized a “matrix of control” to grab more land, and repress Palestinians (Halper 2014). The litany of crimes against humanity is too long to review here. In a more just world, racism, imperialism and colonialism would not be tolerated. In such a world the Israeli and US genocidal war criminals would have long ago been arrested, tired, convicted, and sentenced for these horrific atrocities. What we are watching in Gaza is unfiltered brutality, caught on camera, often by bystanders, although sometimes posted and shared by the perpetrators themselves. It is difficult to comprehend those who do not empathize with the people of Gaza. In the first three months of the genocide alone, between October 7, 2023 and January 7, 2024, over 1000 children in Gaza had their limbs amputated, many without anesthetic due to Israel’s bombings (Save the Children 2024)! A common characteristic of genocides is that the victims are systematic dehumanized. In this case, in addition to dehumanization, Israel’s US sponsored genocide of Palestinians has been facilitated by the erasure of Palestinian history, the whitewashing of the history of Zionism in particular and imperialism in general, and the covering of Israel’s crimes with false accusations of anti-Semitism. The latter set of accusations have risen to an extreme level of absurdity as they are commonly directed at Jews who stand in solidarity with Palestine. What must be done? Settler colonialism creates an insoluble antagonism between the settlers, and the colonized population that is forcibly displaced to make room for the settlers. The religious cover and the insidious manipulation of historic Jewish suffering in Europe exacerbate the Israel-Palestinian case. Zionism exploits the Jewish suffering produced by the anti-Semitic pogroms of the late 19th and early twentieth centuries and the Holocaust to advance its goals. Zionism insidiously tries to transfer the weight of European anti-Semitism onto the heads of Palestinians to rationalize Israel’s ongoing ethnic cleansing. The extreme ethno-nationalism that has flourished in the Zionist project, the continued growth of Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank, and the further sharpening of the settler-colonized antagonism has led us to the present moment. These processes must be stopped. Although a two state solution along the pre-1967 borders has the support of much of the world, and if given full sovereignty and security guarantees for a contiguous Palestine would be far better than the current situation, it is clear that this does not address the core discriminatory, and aggressive nature of the Israeli state itself. Israel has worked hard to make the two-state solution unviable by consistently encroaching upon Palestinian territory (Halper 2014). It is critical to consider alternatives in light of these events to consider alternative solutions. The peoples of the region must forge a new reality through a thorough and complete dismantlement of the repressive, supremacist, imperialist, colonialist, and apartheid characteristics of the state called Israel. Israel must be transformed into a place were full equal rights exist for Palestinians and Jews. This means that a single, inclusive state that is in complete conformity with international law is the only realistic and ethical solution. For this to happen, those responsible for war crimes and the crime of genocide must be tried, sentenced and punished. A new inclusive and anti-racist society must be constructed. There must be an immediate end to home demolitions, administrative detention, Jewish only roads, a dismantlement of the apartheid wall, and investigations into and prosecution of Israeli war crimes. If these steps are not taken, the continuation of the settler-colonized antagonism and the accompanying apartheid-like system and genocidal violence will likely continue. A key problem before us is that international law has no enforcement mechanism for powerful, imperialist states who violate it, even when they commit the most egregious of crimes. International law risks losing its relevance if Israel and the US are able to continue to pursue this genocide. Another layer of responsibility for the present situation lies in the effective inability of past and present leftist, socialist, communist movements to establish a truly internationalist world order where global production would be geared to human need and not to the enrichment of the few. The development of international socialist governance would have long ago abolished economies based on militarism. It is difficult to address humanity’s pressing problems in the context of global capitalism and imperialism that produce astronomical inequalities of income, wealth and power. We all have a duty to stand up for Palestine and stand firmly against genocide. We must follow the examples of the brave students and professors around the country and countless millions around the world that have protested and shown their solidarity. We must learn from the Palestinians themselves who have consistently resisted the systematic destruction of their people. Countries such as Yemen, South Africa, Cuba, Colombia, and Bolivia have demonstrated solidarity with Palestine, as have countless organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace, If Not Now, and Students for Justice for Palestine. Ending this genocide is a necessary step for humanity. It is impossible to move to a sane, less violent, anti-imperialist and internationalist world order, if we cannot stop genocide when it occurs in our midst. Free Gaza! Free Palestine! Works Cited: Abunimah, Ali. 2014. The Battle for Justice in Palestine. Haymarket Books. Chicago. AJLabs and Sanad Verification Agency. 2024. “Satellite images reveal the destruction of hospitals in Gaza”. Al Jazeera. April 18, 2024. Accessed online: May, 16 2024. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2024/4/18/satellite-images-reveal-israeli-destruction-of-hospitals-in-gaza Al Jazeera. 2023. “Israel air strike on ambulances kills 15, injures 60, Gaza officials say”. Al Jazeera. November 3, 2023. Accessed online 5/18/2024 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/3/several-killled-in-israeli-attack-on-ambulance-convoy-gaza-health-ministry Al-Sachi, Hadeel, and Ana Baba. 2024. “An Israeli airstrike killed 45 Palestinians in an encampment for displaced people”. NPR. May 27, 2024. Accessed online 5/30/2024 https://www.npr.org/2024/05/27/nx-s1-4982690/rafah-encampment-israeli-airstrike-hamas Batrawy, Aya. 2024. Why the U.N. revised the numbers of women and children in Gaza. N.P.R. May 15, 2024. Accessed online 5/15/2024 https://www.npr.org/2024/05/15/1251265727/un-gaza-death-toll-women-children Canadian Medical Association. 2009. “Gaza’s health care system crippled before - and after.” Canadian Medical Association Journal. March 19, 2009. Accessed online. 4/8/2024 https://www.cmaj.ca/content/cmaj/180/6/608.full.pdf Cordall, Simon Speakman, Mohammed R Mhawish, and Mat Nashed. 2024. “When Israeli soldiers shot at hungry Palestinians.” Al Jazeera. March 5, 2024. Accessed online 4/9/2024 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2024/3/5/the-blood-was-everywhere-inside-israels-flour-massacre-in-gaza Halper, Jeff. 2014. Obstacles to Peace. Re-Framing the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. The Israeli Coalition against Home Demolitions. Jerusalem. Law for Palestine. 2024. “Law for Palestine Releases Database with 500+ Instances of Israeli Incitement to Genocide- Continuously Updated.” January 4, 2024. Accessed online 5/30/2024 https://law4palestine.org/law-for-palestine-releases-database-with-500-instances-of-israeli-incitement-to-genocide-continuously-updated/ Martin, Abby. 2019. Gaza Fights for Freedom. Documentary. United States. Medical Aid for Palestinians. 2021. “Not just a painful memory: Continuing to treat the Great March of Return’s gunshot wounds”. MAP Medical Aid for Palestinians. April 8, 2021. Accessed online 5/17/2024. https://www.map.org.uk/news/archive/post/1215-not-just-a-painful-memory-continuing-to-treat-the-great-march-of-returnas-gunshot-wounds Mohammad, Linah. 2023. “Children make up nearly half of Gaza’s population: Here’s what it means for the war” NPR. October 19, 2023. Accessed online: 3/28/2024 https://www.npr.org/2023/10/19/1206479861/israel-gaza-hamas-children-population-war-palestinians#:~:text=The%20current%20war%20in%20Gaza,47.3%25)%20are%20under%2018. Muhaisen, Tayseer. N.d. “Palestinian Refugees in the Gaza Strip, 1948-1967: The Political and Social Remodeling of a Cramped Palestinian Space” Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question. Accessed online 5/17/2024: https://www.palquest.org/en/highlight/22188/palestinian-refugees-gaza-strip-1948-1967 Knickmeyer, Ellen and Rebecca Santana. 2024. “Chef José Andrés says aid workers killed by Israeli airstrikes represented the ‘best of humanity” AP. April 25, 2024. Accessed online. 5/7/ 2024 https://apnews.com/article/memorial-world-central-kitchen-workers-gaza-israel-fd668fad5de83377c129ab832d699c70 Pappe, Ilan. 2006. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. Oneworld Publications. Oxford. Relief Web. 2024. “Press Release: A Disturbing Trend: Over 1000 Attacks on Health Care in the oPt since 07 October 2023”. OCHA Situation Report. March 28, 2024. Save the Children. 2024. “Gaza: More than 10 Children a Day Lose a Limb in Three Months of Brutal Conflict”. January 7, 2024. Accessed online 5/30/2024 https://www.savethechildren.net/news/gaza-more-10-children-day-lose-limb-three-months-brutal-conflict#:~:text=Many%20of%20these%20operations%20on,World%20Health%20Organization%20(WHO). Segal, Raz. 2023. “A Textbook Case of Genocide: Israel has been explicit about what it’s carrying out in Gaza. Why isn’t the world listening?”. Jewish Currents. October 13, 2023. Accessed online. 4/9/2024 https://jewishcurrents.org/a-textbook-case-of-genocide Stepansky, Joseph and Jillian Kestler-D’Amours. 2024. “Israel’s war on Gaza updates: ‘Rafah is on fire”. Al Jazeera. May 29, 2024: Accessed online 5/30/2024 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/5/29/israels-war-on-gaza-live-tent-cities-attacked-as-tanks-roll-into-rafah#:~:text=The%20UN's%20World%20Food%20Programme,on%20Gaza%20since%20October%207. TWAILR. 2023. “Public Statement: Scholars Warn of Potential Genocide in Gaza”. TWAILR. Third World Approaches to International Law Review. October 17, 2023. Accessed online: https://twailr.com/public-statement-scholars-warn-of-potential-genocide-in-gaza/ United Nations General Assembly Human Rights Council. 2009. “Human Rights in Palestine and other Occupied Arab Territories: Report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict” Human Rights Council Twelfth Session.. A/HRC/12/48. UNRWA. 2023. “Where We Work”. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. Accessed online. 3/28/2024. https://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/gaza-strip Author Isaac Christiansen is an Associate Professor of Sociology in Midwestern State University. He obtained his Master’s and PhD in sociology from Iowa State University in 2010 and 2015, respectively. His research and interests include topics related to health inequalities, imperialism, Marxist political economy, and socialist development. He is currently finishing his first book “Global Social Problems: Inequalities of Power and the Pursuit of Social Justice” which is expected to be out later this year. He has previously published in World Review of Political Economy, Nuestro Tiempo, International Critical Thought, The International Journal of Cuban Studies and CounterPunch. Archives June 2024
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