Update on Gaza October 20th, 2023

 - As of Thursday night, midnight Gaza time, the number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip had risen to 3,785, including at least 1,524 children. By this morning, it may well be over 4,000

 

- There are many hundreds, even thousands, of people that remain under the rubble and are not included in this casualty count.

 

- 12,500 people have been injured

 

- last night, a building next to one of the oldest churches in the world was shelled, collapsing onto the church and partially damaging it. 16 [updated] people sheltering in and around the church were killed. This number is expected to go up.

 

- a staggering "at least" 30% of all housing units in the Gaza Strip have been either destroyed (12,845), rendered uninhabitable (9,055) or moderately/lightly damaged (121,000)

 

- 1 million of the 2.2 million Palestinians living in Gaza have been displaced; Israel ordered Palestinians to the south, but has continued to bomb in the south

 

- there is no water, no fuel, at least 4 hospitals—that was yesterday—have closed because they have no fuel to function. Several days ago, hospitals started operating without anesthetics, and medicines are critically low

 

- Today there are supposed to be 20 trucks entering but already there are hold-ups. Gaza needs 500 trucks a day to provide for its massive needs (source: former UNRWA spox Chris Guinnes). There are 3,000 tons of assistance waiting at Egypt's airport. Some people have started advocating for other crossings to be opened since Rafah is small and has been bombed numerous times by Israel.

 

- A pause in hostilities is required for any meaningful relief distribution, but Israel is refusing to stop its bombardment.

Before I Was a Gazan - a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye

 

Copyright © by Naomi Shihab Nye.

 

Naomi Shihab Nye gives voice to her experience as an Arab-American through poems about heritage and peace that overflow with a humanitarian spirit.

POETS.ORG

Find and share the perfect poems

Dear President Biden, What dirty secrets does Israel have on you?

 October 20, 2023

Dear President Biden,

What dirty secrets does Israel have on you?  I am just trying to figure out how you can be so clueless and cruel when it comes to the Israel/Palestine situation.

HAMAS did not invent or unleash pure, unadulterated evil as you said in your most recent speech. HAMAS is a more recent evil response to Jews-preferred Israel's extensive mistreatment of the indigenous non-Jewish men, women, and children of historic Palestine.  

The unleashing of pure unadulterated evil in the Middle East is and has been modern man-made Israel, a fully sovereign nation state that has been aggressively persecuting, impoverishing, and displacing Palestinian families for the past 75 years.

Armed religious extremism and a growing tide of racist hate is an inevitable reaction to Israel being richly rewarded by America for arming religion with lethal weaponry. 

HAMAS is horrible and stupid, but Israel's state sponsored terrorism is a billion times more monstrous than HAMAS.

Here in America various deluded CEOs and bigoted billionaires are doing what they can to silence support for Palestine and the truth.  Our mainstream media has become a mouthpiece for a foreign country instead of being America's Fourth Estate. And I go to White House.gov and I might as well be looking at an Israeli government propaganda site.  

I know that early on in our history American racism was rampant and wrong. Slavery was everywhere and technically legal. But that did not make slavery right or good. Thankfully we had courageous heroes speak out to help lead us away from legalized racist injustice and segregation. Our country grew stronger and better thanks to our learned respect for diversity and the rule of fair and just laws.  

So why exactly are we arming Israel as it traps and bombs Palestinians in the concentration camp called Gaza?  

Why are we funding Israel's belligerent occupation and illegal settlements in the West Bank?  

Why isn't America standing up for real justice and peace! 

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

American Homemaker & Poet

Live by the Golden Rule

Christians Killed by Israeli Bombing of One of the Oldest Churches in Historic Palestine- Saint Porphyrius Orthodox Church

 

America, Do we believe in full and equal rights for all people, regardless of their supposed race or religion? !!!

 

We’re anti-Zionist Jews and we see genocide unfolding in Gaza- Ellen Brotsky and Ariel Koren

"Israeli supporters thirst for these lies. They do not want to know the truth. The truth would force them to examine their racism, self-delusion and complicity in oppression, murder and genocide." Chris Hedges

Think of Others- a poem by Mahmoud Darwish [of Palestine]

BEWARE: Don't let Racist Hate win ... a poem

"It lifted my grieving heart to join crowds in London on the March for Palestine. We need more of them" - a timely Guardian op-ed by Nimer Sultany

MIFTAH's Chairperson Dr. Hanan Ashrawi sends a message to the world.

WHAT YOU BOMB a poem by VIJAY PRASHAD

In Israel's war against the Palestinians, Tel Aviv controls the narrative and silences dissenting voices

In one week, the number of children killed in Gaza has surpassed the number of children killed in Ukraine in one year. Both are occupied lands, but with vastly different approaches from the US.

His name is Wadie Al Fayoume. He was just killed- murdered at the age of 6 for being Palestinian and Muslim in America... Stabbed 26 times in his Chicago area home.

Pamela Olson's book (and blog) that aims to bring the realities in Palestine to the American mainstream

This Week in Palestine: When Art and Artists Belong Ismail Shammout, an Ambassador of Palestinian Identity By Bashar Shammout

Memory of Places by Sliman Mansour, 2009.

Heba Zagout, artist, killed by Israeli bombs in Gaza, Palestine, October 2023

HATE, it has caused a lot of problems in this world, but it has not solved one yet- Maya Angelou

When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?

We need facts and the preservation of press freedom.

STOP DOMESTIC VIOLENCE... & State Sponsored Terrorism

Christians Killed by Israeli Bombing of One of the Oldest Churches in Historic Palestine- Saint Porphyrius Orthodox Church

The number of Christian’s killed in the latest bombing of the assembly hall of the Orthodox church is rising by the minute. Latest reports speaks that the death toll at the moment is close to 40 people.

Hanan Ashrawi

@DrHananAshrawi

No safety, no protection for vulnerable Palestinians in Gaza, even if they seek sanctuary in their churches. #GenocidalIsrael

 

Site of bombardment that leveled the Orthodox Church administration building and caused heavy damage to the historic Church. Utter devastation October 2023

 

Hanan Ashrawi

@DrHananAshrawi

Now wait for Israeli hasbara/spin machines suggest that Palestinian Greek Orthodox parishioners mistakenly bombed themselves!

Ahram Online , Thursday 19 Oct 2023

Dozens of Palestinian feared dead after Israeli strike hits Gaza Orthodox Church

A Palestinian girl was killed and others were injured on Thursday after an Israeli air strike hit Saint Porphyrius Orthodox Church in Gaza City, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

The church has been a shelter for hundreds of Palestinians displaced by Israel's brazen war on Gaza.

The strike left a "large number of martyrs and injured" at the compound of the Greek Orthodox church, the Palestinian interior ministry said.

The attack also caused severe damage to the church building, a WAFA correspondent reported.

Local sources told WAFA that the shelling also caused the collapse of another Church building housing several Palestinian families seeking shelter.

More casualties are feared trapped under the rubble, as rescue and medical teams were seen working tirelessly to reach them, the correspondent reported.

The Saint Porphyrius Orthodox Church is just meters from the Baptist Hospital, where the Israeli army committed a massacre last Tuesday, killing at least 600 Palestinians and injuring hundreds more... READ MORE

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]  

St. Porphyrios of Gaza, Bishop of Gaza from 395 to 420 AD

Saint Porphyrius, built in about 1150, is the oldest church still in use in Gaza. Located in an historic neighbourhood of Gaza City, the church offered sanctuary to people of various faiths over generations.

The Church of Saint Porphyrios is an ancient and sizable place of worship in the region. It is believed to be the third oldest church in the world. The original temple at this location dates back to 425 CE. However, the current church was built by the Crusaders around the 1150s. Historical records from the 15th century also mention its dedication to the Virgin Mary. It has been preserved throughout time and was restored in 1856.

 

The bells & cross of Orthodox Christian Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza

America, Do we believe in full and equal rights for all people, regardless of their supposed race or religion? !!!

Washington DC Capital October 2023 "Just as we demand an end to genocide in Gaza, we must put the same effort into dismantling the systems of Zionism, apartheid, and colonialism that brought us to this moment." JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE Jews organizing toward Palestinian liberation and Judaism beyond Zionism

Dear President Biden,

Do we believe in full and equal rights for all people, regardless of their supposed race or religion?  

I ask because it is clear that Israel does not:  Israel has been investing in Apartheid and injustice, while falsely promoting the idea that Israel is a democracy and shares American values.

Israel uses public funds to subsidize segregation as well as Zionism's preferred "religious scholars"... day after day, decade after decade. That is not a good investment!!!

Making matters worse, Israel uses American taxpayer funds to empower religious extremism and a cruel racist war against the indigenous, native non-Jewish people of historic Palestine.

Israel believes that only Jewish people should be first class citizens in the Holy Land, with full rights, full freedoms, good jobs, positive PR and security. 

Israel wants to pull America into more and more war in the Middle East, using American money and bombs to destroy the homes and lives of the native non-Jewish men, women and children of the Holy Land.

Israel is not our friend.  Nor is our mainstream media right now, as it fails to notice and report on the very real plight of the Palestinians and the ongoing Israeli made Nakba destroying Palestinian homes and families since before 1948. 

Please don't trust Zionist propaganda- but do trust the courageous American Jews who publicly protest against Israel saying "NOT IN MY NAME" !!!!!  

Sincerley,

Anne Selden Annab

NOTES

Live by the Golden Rule

We’re anti-Zionist Jews and we see genocide unfolding in Gaza- Ellen Brotsky and Ariel Koren

"Israeli supporters thirst for these lies. They do not want to know the truth. The truth would force them to examine their racism, self-delusion and complicity in oppression, murder and genocide." Chris Hedges

Think of Others- a poem by Mahmoud Darwish [of Palestine]

BEWARE: Don't let Racist Hate win ... a poem

"It lifted my grieving heart to join crowds in London on the March for Palestine. We need more of them" - a timely Guardian op-ed by Nimer Sultany

MIFTAH's Chairperson Dr. Hanan Ashrawi sends a message to the world.

WHAT YOU BOMB a poem by VIJAY PRASHAD

In Israel's war against the Palestinians, Tel Aviv controls the narrative and silences dissenting voices

In one week, the number of children killed in Gaza has surpassed the number of children killed in Ukraine in one year. Both are occupied lands, but with vastly different approaches from the US.

His name is Wadie Al Fayoume. He was just killed- murdered at the age of 6 for being Palestinian and Muslim in America... Stabbed 26 times in his Chicago area home.

Pamela Olson's book (and blog) that aims to bring the realities in Palestine to the American mainstream

This Week in Palestine: When Art and Artists Belong Ismail Shammout, an Ambassador of Palestinian Identity By Bashar Shammout

Memory of Places by Sliman Mansour, 2009.

Heba Zagout, artist, killed by Israeli bombs in Gaza, Palestine, October 2023

HATE, it has caused a lot of problems in this world, but it has not solved one yet- Maya Angelou

When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?

We need facts and the preservation of press freedom.

STOP DOMESTIC VIOLENCE... & State Sponsored Terrorism

We’re anti-Zionist Jews and we see genocide unfolding in Gaza- Ellen Brotsky and Ariel Koren

"Between 2000 and the recent wave of violence, more than 10,600 Palestinians were killed by Israelis, according to human rights group B’Tselem, compared to 1,329 Israelis by Palestinians — an eight-fold difference.

The decades between 1948 and 2000 are filled with tens of thousands more dead — largely Palestinians. The story of this conflict, the numbers clearly show, has been the story of overwhelming Palestinian death and displacement.

The vast majority of American politicians, now and then, have acquiesced.

Over the last week, President Joseph R Biden has said repeatedly that the US commitment to Israel is steadfast — “resolute and unwavering” — as 1,000 bombs are dropped each day. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken deleted statements, twice, calling for a ceasefire. As Biden visits Israel, it is critical that he immediately call for an end to hostilities. If he fails to use the enormous leverage he has to save lives in Gaza, those deaths will be partly his responsibility.

A US special envoy said that “no one has the right to tell Israel how to defend itself.” The State Department, in fact, has warned diplomats to stay away from the phrases “de-escalation/ceasefire,” “end to violence/bloodshed,” and “restoring calm.”

Most of our congressional representatives — of both parties — are no better: leading Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said this was a “religious war” and called on Israel to “level the place” when speaking of Gaza.

Representative Nancy Pelosi, our California congresswoman, has affirmed that the United States stands “unwaveringly” by Israel as it conducts its defense — which is why seven of us chained ourselves to her San Francisco offices on Friday as more than 200 anti-Zionist Jews rallied, calling for an end to US military aid to Israel.

The few who have dissented are sidelined: Representative Rashida Tlaib, for instance, lamented losses on both sides but called for an end to occupation and apartheid; House Republicans are seeking to censure her. Representative Ilhan Omar also mourned both Israeli and Palestinian losses but was lambasted for daring to question “unconditional weapons sales and military aid to Israel.”" ...READ MORE

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine] 

"Israeli supporters thirst for these lies. They do not want to know the truth. The truth would force them to examine their racism, self-delusion and complicity in oppression, murder and genocide." Chris Hedges

Israel’s Culture of Deceit

Israel, which always seeks to blame Palestinians for the atrocities it carries out, is the least trustworthy source about the bombing of the hospital in Gaza. 

 

Chris Hedges

Oct 18, 2023

Israel was founded on lies. The lie that Palestinian land was largely unoccupied. The lie that 750,000 Palestinians fled their homes and villages during their ethnic cleansing by Zionist militias in 1948 because they were told to do so by Arab leaders. The lie that it was Arab armies that started the 1948 war that saw Israel seize 78 percent of historic Palestine. The lie that Israel faced annihilation in 1967, forcing it to invade and occupy the remaining 22 percent of Palestine, as well as land belonging to Egypt and Syria. 

Israel is sustained by lies. The lie that Israel wants a just and equitable peace and will support a Palestinian state. The lie that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. The lie that Israel is an “outpost of Western civilization in a sea of barbarism.” The lie that Israel respects the rule of law and human rights. 

Israel’s atrocities against the Palestinians are always greeted with lies. I heard them. I recorded them. I published them in my stories for The New York Times when I was the paper’s Middle East Bureau Chief.

I covered war for two decades, including seven years in the Middle East...READ MORE

 

  [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine] 

Think of Others- a poem by Mahmoud Darwish [of Palestine]

 

Think of Others- a poem by  Mahmoud Darwish [of Palestine]

BEWARE: Don't let Racist Hate win ... a poem

Gaza October 2023

 

           BEWARE: Don't let Racist Hate win

TAKE NOTE: Israel wants wider war.

Wider and wider and wider...

Lebanon, Syria pulverized

then Iran... leave a waste land

with Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia,

to follow,  barricaded and bombed

into rubble

and suffering.

Israel IS WAR here in America

A war on democracy

and freedom;

A war on our Fourth Estate

and our freedom of speech

with false accusations of antisemitism.

Israel is a war on justice and equality;

A war on our values and principles;

A war on our political systems and infrastructures;

A war on all religion and all secular beliefs-

and our sanity itself.

A war on truth;

A war on our honor

and the rule of fair and just laws...

Israel is not protecting itself.

Israel thrives on having an enemy

and an excuse to wage more

& more war, because

Israel's real aim

is oil.

Yes oil, oil and wage slaves

to do the work,

and pay the fees.

Oil right now is money and power.

OIL will soon become complete control

over machinery and movement,

complete control over manufacturing

and military operations,

complete control over tourism

and film making entertainment

as oil becomes scarce...

and life becomes more & more precarious.

Oil might not have been the plan in 1948

when Jews-preferred Israel first usurped the land

in Palestine, stealing homes, gardens, jobs and peace

from the indigenous non-Jewish men, women and children.

But it is now.

Never Again means different things

to different people.

Stealthily deploying Hasbara- Zionist propaganda-

in this online age of disinformation

Racist/Zionist Israel gathers funds, support

and military weaponry

by pretending to seek peace.

Israel has been cruelly

demonizing,

dehumanizing,

and undermining

Arabs and Muslims and Christians

every where it can.

Israel gains money and power

while Palestinians suffer

and die- tortured and killed

by a totally racist modern regime

that pretends to be a democracy

and pretends to be America's friend.

Iraq has already been bombed-

a million living breathing feeling 

human beings killed,  a country

impoverished and crippled 

thanks to Zionists

prodding America into WAR.

PLEASE Don't let Racist Hate win.

ISRAEL DOES NOT WANT PEACE

or justice...

Israel, the ultimate snake oil salesman

wants OIL.

PLEASE Don't let Racist Hate win

here or there.

Art by Bansky in Palestine

"It lifted my grieving heart to join crowds in London on the March for Palestine. We need more of them" - a timely Guardian op-ed by Nimer Sultany

‘It was heartening to see so many demonstrators showing solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.’ Photograph: Loredana Sangiuliano/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

It lifted my grieving heart to join crowds in London on the March for Palestine. We need more of them

by Nimer Sultany

UK politicians have been shamefully silent on the carnage visited on Palestinians in Gaza. Saturday’s protest was cathartic

• Nimer Sultany is reader in public law and a Palestinian citizen of Israel

On Saturday, for a few hours, I was finally able to breathe. Marching alongside tens of thousands of demonstrators in central London was reinvigorating. Like so many Palestinians abroad, I spent the week finding it hard to work or sleep; I watched in horror as Israel inflicted carnage on Gaza’s 2 million residents. In one week, according to one military expert, Israel dropped on the small and densely populated Gaza more bombs than the US dropped on Afghanistan in a year.

It was disturbing to see that the language of condemnation and political consensus was glaringly absent when it came to Palestinian civilian deaths in the face of an incomparably superior military force, which wiped out entire families and neighbourhoods live on-screen.

Despite Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, saying it will “eliminate everything” in Gaza and speaking of removing “restraints” on his troops, despite reported plans to raze entire cities to the ground and to drive out more than a million people from their homes, scores of British politicians repeatedly and bluntly refused to show concern for Palestinian civilian lives. This kind of disregard leads millions of Palestinians to reach an unavoidable conclusion: that, compared with Israelis, their lives are less precious, their freedom less urgent.

It is also astonishing when compared with western concern for Ukrainian lives. Only a year ago the EU considered Russian actions to cut water and electricity to be war crimes and “acts of pure terror”. But when Israel announced a similar policy to starve the population and inflict collective punishment, US and European leaders flew to Israel to show support. Are brown populations expendable?  ... READ MORE

 [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine] 

MIFTAH's Chairperson Dr. Hanan Ashrawi sends a message to the world.

Oct 17, 2023 Our BoD chairperson Dr. Hanan Ashrawi shares this message to the world. Those who have been ignoring the reality of the situation in Gaza are complicit in Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people. She thanks allies around the world who have spoken up for Palestine.

WHAT YOU BOMB a poem by VIJAY PRASHAD

What You Bomb a poem by Vijay Prashad

You encage two million people into 140 square miles. You are surprised when the people create tunnels to smuggle goods, to resist.

You bomb hospitals, you bomb schools, you bomb water plants, you bomb sewers – and you want us to feel sorry for you.

You have politicians who say they want to kill all Gazans, academics who call for rape as war’s weapon. And you are silent? Where are you?

Your arms have killed hundreds, injured thousands, displaced tens of thousands. You clap, you cheer. You weep when your soldiers fall.

On which side of the border should my tears fall? On the side of the bombers or the side of the bombed?

Your morality is challenged, your ethics on fire. All you can say, in bad faith, is Hamas, Hamas, Hamas.

You kill a child. Hamas. You bomb a school. Hamas. You bomb a UN building. Hamas. You bomb a disability center. Hamas. Hamas. Hamas.

For you Hamas has become a full-stop, an exclamation point, a digression, a shaggy dog, a golden ring, a do-not-go-to-jail card.

Who are you that you take shelter in five letters – Hamas – when entire families are wiped out in your name?

What you bomb is not Hamas. It is Palestine. Not a dream, but a people. Not a refugee camp, but a country alive in its peoples’ hearts.

Samah, Samah, Samah.[1]

---

[1] Samah, the reverse of Hamas, is an Arabic word that means Forgiveness (generosity of the soul).

 

 

Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor, and journalist.

 

In Israel's war against the Palestinians, Tel Aviv controls the narrative and silences dissenting voices

 October 16, 2023

 COUNTERPUNCH

Framing the Language of Carnage in Palestine: Advantage Israel

  by M. Reza Behnam

Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair

 

 

 

".... Israel has firmly embedded the myth that it is a democratic, brave, vulnerable nation into the body politic of the United States.  In their current war against the Palestinians, Tel Aviv has made sure to control the narrative and to silence dissenting voices.  With the corporate media, they have established who matters, Israel, and who does not, the Palestinians.

The first casualties of the disinformation campaign have been the use of the words “war” and “conflict.” Oxford English Dictionary defines war as “a state of armed conflict between different nations or states or different groups within a nation or state.”  Conflict is defined (dictionary.com) as a “struggle or clash between opposing forces.”

It is a distortion to say that what we have witnessed in Palestine is a war or a conflict.  Both words imply a battle or struggle between equals or near equals, between two peoples with equal resources and claims.

As Israel conducts its aggression against the Palestinians in Gaza, the media continues to improperly frame the killing of the colonized by the Israeli colonizer as a war and/or conflict.  CNN, MSNBC and National Public Radio, for example, have been using the promo, “Israel at War,” to entice viewers and listeners.

Tel Aviv has declared war on a political party, Hamas.  The Gaza Strip—about the size of New Jersey— home to 2.3 million Palestinians, is not a nation or a state.  It has been under Israeli military occupation and blockade and can best be described as an open-air prison...." READ MORE

 [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]  

In one week, the number of children killed in Gaza has surpassed the number of children killed in Ukraine in one year. Both are occupied lands, but with vastly different approaches from the US.

In one week, the number of children killed in Gaza has surpassed the number of children killed in Ukraine in one year.  

Since the war in Ukraine began 535 children were killed. 

IMEU: Gaza Update on Saturday (October 14th 2023), Israel has killed over 2,000 Palestinians, including more than 700 children this past week [not including the Palestinians killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers in the West Bank this past week.]

Both are occupied lands, but with vastly different approaches from the US.

 

Gaza Update from several days ago- the numbers are much higher now

 

His name is Wadie Al Fayoume. He was just killed- murdered at the age of 6 for being Palestinian and Muslim in America... Stabbed 26 times in his Chicago area home.

His name Wadie Al Fayoume. Killed at the age of 6 for being Palestinian and Muslim. Stabbed 26 times in his Chicago area home.

Abed A. Ayoub

@aayoub

His name Wadie Al Fayoume. Killed at the age of 6 for being Palestinian and Muslim. Stabbed 26 times in his Chicago area home. 

 

The Administration, elected officials, and the media for the past week have ignored Palestinians, and sold the general public lie after lie. 

 

Day after day we warned about the uptick in hate crimes, and how hate rhetoric will lead to hate violence. 

 

When @sarasidnerCNN goes live on air on @cnn  and pushes a debunked lie of beheaded babies, what do you think will happen? 

 

When networks give airtime to racist Israeli leaders to demonize our people, and push the talking points of a right-wing foreign government, this is the result. 

 

You have vilified the entire population of Arabs. 

 

This didn't have to happen. 

 

The sad reality is that it may happen again.

Pamela Olson's book (and blog) that aims to bring the realities in Palestine to the American mainstream

The date palms Deir al Balah used to be famous for, before Israel destroyed nearly all of them.

GAZA HOLIDAY

"....Israeli soldiers took over their home and occupied it in a way that paralleled the occupation as a whole. The top two floors were ‘Area C’ — completely off limits. The Bashirs were warned that if they ventured up the stairs, they would be shot. The kitchen and bathroom were ‘Area B,’ meaning Israeli soldiers had priority and the family had to ask permission to use them.

Only the living room on the first floor was ‘Area A,’ meaning they could enter and use it as they saw fit, though they couldn’t invite guests in without permission from the Israeli soldiers.

Mrs. Bashir told The Guardian, “Occupation is getting up in the morning to make tea and finding a soldier in your kitchen making coffee. Occupation is when I wanted to go to the toilet, a soldier had to go with me. I wasn’t allowed in my bedroom. I looked in on my way to the toilet one day and there was a soldier with no clothes on in my bed.”

It also meant that Israeli soldiers bulldozed the Bashirs’ greenhouses and fruit orchards, including 170 date palms, which had provided their relative wealth. It meant Mr. Bashir was regularly forced to strip to his underwear on his own doorstep before entering the house, often in front of his children...." ... READ MORE

 [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]