The Israeli army has killed and injured over 600 Palestinians near three food distribution centres under its control in the Gaza Strip, all within one week, says Human Rights Monitor. Marilyn Garson writes that starving Palestinians are being forced to seek food, despite the real danger of them being shot by the Israeli military.
This 100th day is a Tuesday morning, and already this is a week of bitter pills to swallow. Gazan Palestinians continue to be pressed into ever smaller spaces. They continue to be driven toward the faint prospect of food. To save their children from starvation, they make themselves vulnerable to the deadly force that surrounds the GHF choke points. What should they do, starve or be shot?
The Guardian and others report that the UK and France have backpedaled and will not recognise the State of Palestine at the upcoming conference. Instead, they will talk about the concessions and steps that Palestinians should take to assure Israel, such that Israel will not want to obstruct their political rights.
Mike Huckabee, Trump’s ambassador to Israel, has announced that the US will no longer pursue a Palestinian state in the land of Palestine. Any Palestinian state will be carved out of ‘a Muslim country’.
Aotearoa joined other countries in sanctioning two Israeli ministers. Good, thank you, but even this bloodless tweak must be accompanied by assurances to the Israeli people.
Who will assure the Palestinian people this week? Who will comfort the children of Gaza this week? Gazan Palestinians are starving and being killed with impunity – on their own land, which is called Palestine and is recognised as such by ¾ of the member states of the United Nations.
Alternative Jewish Voices regards this ongoing genocide, this political farce, with horror and heartbreak for our Palestinian whanau. This week forces us to understand a little more about being Palestinian, because these cycles of hope and cowardly abandonment are not new for Palestinians.
We send our deepest compassion to each Palestinian who is struggling alongside their Gazan family, and suffering these bitter setbacks. We will be with you for as long as it takes.
We urge every friend of Palestine to think sustainably about solidarity. That is what these setbacks demand. We cannot only bank the fiery rage that burns itself out. If we are to stand beside Palestinians through the long work of realising their rights and national aspirations, we need to act with the care, the comfort, the creativity, and consistency that will endure.
This article was first published by Sh'ma Koleinu – Alternative Jewish Voices (NZ)
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