Gaza's Tragic Toll and International Complicity 6/28/2024

                                     Gaza's Tragic Toll and International Complicity

 Another shameful chapter has emerged, highlighting the ongoing genocide supported by Israel's allies. The U.S. House of Representatives recently voted 269-144 to ban the State Department from citing death toll figures provided by the Gaza Ministry of Health. This decision stifles crucial information about the human cost of the conflict.

Before the vote, Congress's lone Palestinian American lawmaker, Democrat Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, read into the Congressional Record the harrowing toll of Palestinians killed during Israel's assault on Gaza: over 37,700 dead, including 15,000 children. This tragedy, funded by U.S. taxpayers, continues with fresh attacks. Just today, Israeli forces bombed al-Mawasi, killing at least 11 Palestinians and wounding 40 others. Gaza’s Civil Defense agency reported that three medics were killed, and a dozen others wounded while searching for survivors in the Bureij refugee camp.

The suffering is compounded by Israeli authorities barring many Palestinians from leaving Gaza for medical treatment. Kamela Abu Kwaik, mother to a 5-year-old cancer patient, poignantly questioned, “Why is there suffering like this? Are people’s hearts blind? Is it OK for them to see us suffering like this?”

In addition to the devastation in Gaza, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant threatened to bomb Lebanon "back to the Stone Age" unless Hezbollah halts cross-border attacks. This aggressive stance comes as the Biden administration defends its rapid arms shipments to Israel, totaling $6.5 billion since last October. Peace activists, including CodePink, have condemned Gallant, labeling him a war criminal for his role in the genocide of Palestinians.

Congresswoman Tlaib emphasized that Palestinians are not mere statistics: "Behind these numbers are real people — mothers, fathers, sons, daughters — who have had their lives stolen from them and their families torn apart. We should not be trying to hide it. These are innocent children and babies who have been bombed in their tents, burned alive, dismembered, and deliberately starved to death. This is genocide denial."

The U.S. military's involvement in both the exploitation of Hawaiian lands and the conflict in Gaza has not gone unnoticed. Rose Elovitz from Jewish Voice for Peace-Hawaiʻi highlighted the direct connection, stating, "Palestine is a weapon testing ground for Israeli weapons exported worldwide, just as Hawaii is a testing ground for U.S. weapons and trainings. The bombs tested in the sacred Mākua Valley are the same bombs dropped in Gaza."

It is imperative for us to recognize the shared humanity of all people and condemn the atrocities being committed. Silence and complicity only perpetuate the suffering of the innocent.

It is tragic that the starving emaciated bodies of children are resembling the Jewish children during the Holocaust.