Will we do nothing as Palestinians massacred?

MONDAY was day 374 of the genocide of Palestine and Palestinians by Israel which continues to bomb schools and hospitals. Israel is targeting displacement camps where Palestinians who have been driven out of their homes set up makeshift structures to shelter themselves and their families. Palestinian people are being forced out of the north. There is nowhere for them to go. They are harassed, terrorised, violated in many ways, displaced over and over again, from one “safe zone” to the next, only to be murdered. In just 24 hours, Israel murdered 62 Palestinians and caused injury to 220 Palestinians in Gaza.

ON Monday, Israel murdered four people in an airstrike on a tent at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and injured scores of people who suffered severe burns. The hospital had already been facing significant challenges in treating people injured in the airstrike on a shelter at a school which killed 20 people.

Al Jazeera reported that, “The Israeli military said it targeted fighters hiding out among civilians but did not provide evidence for their presence. In recent months, it has repeatedly struck crowded shelters and tent camps, alleging that Hamas was using them as staging grounds for attacks.” Israel continues to lie.

Israeli soldiers continue to record and livestream their sickening, murderous acts. They laugh with each other and into the camera as they destroy the homes of Palestinians, search through their belongings, and taunt viewers. There are many videos of soldiers toying with lingerie and children’s clothing.

It is clear that Israel is determined to strip Palestinians of their humanity. They want to view them — and have the rest of the world view them — as less than human. This live-streamed genocide against the Palestinian people is a joke to the soldiers. The soldiers are synonymous with Israel as an occupying force and a settler colonial project. Israel has been making life untenable. It is a machine of death.

The UN World Food Programme—world’s largest humanitarian organisation saving lives in emergencies and use food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity — announced last week that aid has not entered the north since October 1. WFP country director for Palestine Antoine Renard said the programme has been there “from the onset” and is committed to providing food, but it is not without access. He said: “The north is basically cut off and we’re not able to operate there.”

While there are people writing and speaking about the genocide against Palestinian people every day, it is not enough. People are urging the rest of the world to rise up and stand in solidarity with Palestinian people, and it is not enough. The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement provides information and guidelines for everyone to prevent support of the death machine that is Israel. It clearly lists companies that everyone needs to avoid supporting, and this movement is built on the success of a similar campaign during the struggle to end apartheid in South Africa. This is a relatively easy way for individuals to take action and to remind ourselves of the work that must still be done, particularly when we have to take the long route because we are on the side of justice.

For travellers, this means using other tools to look for flights, avoiding Expedia and finding accommodations through platforms other than AirBnB and booking.com because they are pressure targets of the campaign. For fast food fans, it means cutting out major chains, including several that are available in The Bahamas, and yes, it does make a difference when these businesses are based here as they have to pay for the use of the franchise brand and other material. For people who order goods online, it means avoiding Amazon — which is advisable for many reasons — and finding other sellers, some of which are likely more environmentally sustainable and less exploitative of workers.

Many Bahamians are in the US, attentive to the presidential election campaign. They need to watch what is happening in Palestine and recognize the significant role the US government is playing. Before backing any presidential candidate, it is important to assess their position on the genocide against Palestinians. Do they call it genocide? Do they avoid questions about it? Do they support the funding of the genocide? Do they send arms to Israel? Do they campaign on not being the other person? Do they use fear tactics and position themselves as the “lesser of the evils” to get votes? What does it mean to support a person, a ticket, or a party that supports genocide?

The US has sabotaged ceasefire negotiations and provided Israel with immunity at the UN Security Council.

Noura Erakat noted: “In the first six days of Israel’s campaign, the Biden administration sent it 6,000 bombs. This week, it sent 50,000 tons of weapons — causing the equivalent of over 3 atomic bombs dropped on a besieged population denied safe quarter and any means necessary for survival.”

It is important to listen to Palestinian people. Those in Palestine are sharing their experiences. They are recording their daily lives. They are speaking to us in the aftermath of unspeakable horror. They speak of their hopes as much as they speak of their fears. They call on world leaders and ordinary people everywhere to take action in ways they cannot. They even pray and send well wishes to other people in the face of disaster. Yes, displaced people in Palestine took the time to send positive messages to people in the US as Hurricane Milton approached. We need to listen to them. To witness their struggle. To spend our money with great care and consideration. To support the fundraisers that will help them to access food and water. To know what they are experiencing and that it is not normal, not necessary, not humane, and not without complicity of many.

In an Instagram video by Salih Aljafarawi, a Palestinian said: “I saw people burning in front of me[…] I swear by Allah, no one was able to do anything!” He survived the airstrike on the hospital on Monday, but his distress was visible. He watched as people died after being awakened from their sleep. “The Zionist occupation is committing massacres that we have never seen, humanity has never seen!”

Journalist Bisan Owda posted a video hours after the airstrike on the makeshift shelter at the hospital. She was visible shocked and deeply shaken by the footage of people burning alive. “Did you watch it? The video. It was so slow, it was so painful. It was so unnecessary. Even if they wanted to kill us all, even if it’s a genocide, even if they are criminals, they could have done this in different ways. They wanted to burn us alive, and they did this. They are playing. It was unnecessary, but they are trying new ways to kill. It was unnecessary[…]”

How many people, she must wonder, can watch that video and feel nothing? Say nothing? Do nothing?

Journalist Yosra Aklouk asked: “Is our flesh really this cheap for you? Is there anything more harsh than the scene of our flesh melting and dissolving?” These questions are searing. Many Palestinians must wonder if the rest of the world is aware of its humanity.

“We are human beings. We are human beings just like you. Our flesh, I swear to God, is the same as yours,” Yosra Aklouk said. “We are simply waiting and thinking about the mechanism through which we will die. Which mechanism will be used to kill us.”

This is the daily reality for people in Palestine. They wonder how we see them. They wonder how it is possible that no one and nothing has stopped this genocide, more than 370 days in. They wonder when death will come to them, and whether it will be day or not. Whether they will be awake or sleeping. Whether it will be gunshots, bombs, starvation, or infection.

Shaaban Ahmad, 20 years of age, was murdered in the Israeli attack on the tent he built to shelter his family at Al-Aqsa Hospital. People, unable to save him, watched, helpless and horrified, as he burned alive. He had started studying software engineering in September 2023. He was pulled from the rubble after the bombing of a mosque where he was sleeping on October 6. He started a fundraiser to get his family to Egypt. On the fundraiser page, he wrote, “I used to have big dreams, but the war has ruined them. It’s taken a toll on me, making my physically and mentally sick. I suffer from depression and hair loss because of the constant trauma we face.”

There are many people like Shaaban who are still alive. Who are trying to find a way out. Who are struggling to stay alive. By now, it is clear that no giant, flying vessel will touch down to collect the Palestinian people, rid Palestine of the occupiers, and give the land back to Palestinians. The resolution will neither be quick nor simple, as we have seen. Even international courts have not declared Palestine and Palestinians free. There has been colossal suffering and loss. There is more that we can do. Shaking our heads is useless. We have to be activated. We have to engage the political discourse on this issue. We have to use our voices as well as our dollars. Every little bit really does count. To find a way to put your money to work for the people of Palestine, go to linker.ee/fundsforgaza which has a rotating list of fundraising campaigns. Do something to sustain Palestinians while we work toward a Free Palestine.

Because I know it will be said, we do have problems here. There are problems everywhere. Know that our problems, our struggles, are connected, as are the solutions. If you have difficult understanding this concept, visit tiny.cc/caribbeanforpalestine to see the connecting of the dots by Caribbean feminists in a statement written and circulated in May 2024.

Published in The Tribune on October 16, 2024.