By Kerul Dyer
Author’s note: It’s hard to see a glimpse of light through the blood stained walls surrounding Gaza and the Occupied West Bank. As people are starving and trapped in an impossible situation with nowhere to go in the North of Gaza, millions in the West Bank are also feeling the pain. Homes being destroyed. More than 1000 uninvestigated Settler attacks. Unknown numbers of people being detained and tortured in secret prison camps. People in Gaza now face unimaginable circumstances with little to no food, no clean water, no shelter, and extremely little access to life saving healthcare. Meanwhile, we in the US continue to supply the weapons and support the war, sending a callous message to the world that will not soon be forgotten.
People around the world are outraged as the gruesome war in Gaza rages on, with an estimated 38,000 people killed since October 7, nearly 15,000 of them children. The incalculable number of people who have died is surely many more, and the numbers of deaths will continue to rise after the fighting stops. Shock and dismay about the mass slaughter of civilians and blocking of essential services for residents of Gaza continues to ripple across the entire world, causing millions to protest the bloodshed. This includes students, faith leaders, notable intellectuals, and even US government officials.
This week, after yet another member of the Biden Administration resigned in protest of the US Gaza policy, the group issued a joint letter describing the reasons for their courageous act. In Jerusalem, thousands of protesters blocked roads and shut down business as usual demanding an immediate ceasefire and release of hostages. In Tel Aviv, hundreds of people attended a first-of-its kind mass Peace Conference that included hundreds of Israeli citizens and Palestinians, both calling for an end to the war and lasting solutions for change.
Meanwhile, chilling reports of the gross mistreatment of the more than 9,800 Palestinians still imprisoned by Israel within the past 275 days have emerged and continue to gain visibility. Clearly documented signs of torture on peoples’ bodies include scars from beatings and electric shock torture, lack of food and medicine, and even amputation from extensive time being bound by tight-fitting restraints.
Now, many agencies working to get food aid into the besieged Gaza strip have declared that the entire region has slipped into a famine. With Israel continuing to block aid from entering the region, and with what appears to be indiscriminate killing of civilians continuing, the death toll will continue to increase at a frightening rate.
Humanitarian Aid workers, including doctors, nurses, food aid workers, and many others have all been killed – both in the crossfire and targeted intentionally by the Israeli soldiers. The Committee to Protect Journalists has confirmed 108 deaths of journalists while investigating more than 380 additional reported deaths and life-threatening injuries, making the Gaza war the most lethal since the organization began tracking them in 1992.
Meanwhile, US taxpayers continue to subsidize Israel’s assault on the Palestinian people with a continued supply of weapons and munitions bound for Gaza operations. Violence outside of Israel is also on the rise, including peaceful protests erupting into fist fights across the United States. These confrontations by counter protesters using violence and intimidation to shut down pro-Palestinian events have been documented at dozens of locations across the US, and funding for these actions linked back to billionaires and right wing zealots. Meanwhile, law enforcement has used brutal tactics to squelch public protest on campuses, including tackling professors and students.
Finally, the investigation into what actually transpired on October 7 is now coming into question. Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, published verified reports that on that day, Israeli military leaders instructed soldiers to follow the Hannibal Directive, a procedure that instructed soldiers to not let any vehicle arrive back to Gaza. Whether the command resulted in the deaths of Israeli hostages or soldiers is unknown.
We will probably never know the whole story of what happened on that dreadful day, how many people and children have died or been maimed on both sides of the dreadful conflict. No matter those figures, I believe we have a collective obligation, as people of conscience, to speak out and take compassionate action to steer the world away from the brink. It’s time to let our moral compass guide us and work together to reduce our reliance on the weapons of war. For whomever intends to use them, they have the same effect.
