War on Gaza and Free Speech
The recently stepped up war in Afghanistan is not the only endless war that the U.S. is engaged in. With its arms funding and silence on human rights abuses, the U.S. is complicit in the ongoing war waged on civilians in Gaza by the state of Israel.
In the “military” wars of Operation Cast Lead (2009), Operation Pillar of Defense (2012), and Operation Protective Edge (2014), Israel rained a devastating array of armaments on Gaza. Human Rights Watch reported in 2009 “Israel’s repeated firing of white phosphorus shells over densely populated areas of Gaza during its recent military campaign was indiscriminate and is evidence of war crimes”.
But while there is currently a “relative calm” in Israeli military activity against Gaza, Israel is waging anequally destructive and pervasive war by stranglehold. For years, the flow of food has been restricted, cynically limited by a minimum per person calorie count of what it would take to avoid a starvation crisis.
Most recently, and supposedly at the request of the Palestinian Authority (which administers the West Bank but not Gaza), Israel has restricted the supply of electricity to densely populated Gaza, whose access to power was already severely reduced by damage to the local power plant during the Israeli wars, and by limits on the flow of fuel by the siege Israel has enforced against Gaza.
The net effect of the crippled power generation and restricted supply is that availability of electric is unpredictable, and averages 3 hours per day. In the past month, there have been days when there was no electric at all. This has affected critical infrastructure such as refrigeration, hospitals, and sewage treatment, precipitating a public health crisis.
This latest war against the people of Gaza is being waged by an unholy allianceof Israel, which treats Palestinians as sub-human; the United States, which funds Israeli military and land grab operations to the tune of billions of dollars of our tax dollars every year while turning a blind eye to violations of human rights, international and American law; and the Palestinian Authority, which is willing to sacrifice civilian lives in Gaza in its own struggle with Hamas.
Gazans in their own words:
— Malak Mattar, 17 year old artist, whose work was recently exhibited in London: “When you need to paint in your studio that has no electricity, [it is] so unfair and harassing.” Describing a painting of hers: “The desire to move, to travel, is inherent in all human beings. And in Gaza, it has become a burn in our stomachs and a pain in our hearts…We are forced to live lives of constant uncertainty and disappointment… Thank you people for celebrating this achievement of the exhibition. It gives me more energy to work for more projects!”
— Salim Al-Sayis, from Az-Zaytoun neighborhood in eastern Gaza City: “Because of the electricity blackouts and heat, I decided to take my children to the beach”. Salim’s son, Mohammed Salim Al-Sayis, 5, died on Saturday, 29 July 2017. He was diagnosed with Ekiri syndrome, which caused lethal toxic encephalopathy. While at the Gaza City beach, Mohammed and his siblings swam in areas close to Ash-Shaikh Ejleen on 19 July 2017. The next day, they showed symptoms of illness and were rushed to the hospital.
— Aya Rabah, 20 year old medical student at University in Gaza, writing a short story named “Scars” in Gaza Writes Back(Just World Books 2014): “It is not another war, for the first war that took my family away many years ago never ceased. They say wars end, but in fact, they never do.”
Here in the U.S. thousands of activists are working to promote human rights in Palestine. But Congress is considering legislation that would impose criminal penalties for advocating or supporting boycott as a tactic to help end the madness. Contact Connecticut sponsors of bills Senate 720 and House 1697, and tell them to withdraw sponsorship: Sen. Blumenthal (202-224-2823), Rep. Courtney (202-225-2076), and Rep. Larson (202-225-2265).
