We can't look away from what is happening in Gaza

gaymen2
Jul 26
4 min read

Katharine Vaner - Editor-in-chief

Throughout July, the horrifying news out of Gaza has been constant, with Israel killing, according to an analysis of UN data, one person every 12 minutes and also, according to the UN, more than 1,000 Palestinians dying while trying to get food.

The scale of mass starvation in Gaza is overwhelming. If one image captured the story it was perhaps the photograph taken by Ahmed Jihad Ibrahim Al-arini of 18-month-old baby Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq (above), which featured prominently on our website and the front of Thursday’s edition of our newspaper.

Emma Graham-Harrison, our chief Middle East correspondent, has been working with Palestinian reporter Malak A Tantesh and photographer Seham Tantesh, who are in Gaza, to try to convey the scale of this human-made catastrophe. Emma and Malak spoke to staff at a children’s hospital where beds are crowded with skeletal children and the doctors too are barely able to feed themselves. It is a harrowing read. Emma also wrote about the devastating long-term impact that mass hunger has on a people: both the permanent damage it inflicts on bodies and minds, and the destabilising effect on the social order, on society itself.

The choice for many in Gaza is to either go without food, or seek it out and risk being killed via the chaotic and militarised aid distribution centres, run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, where hundreds of people have been killed since May.

This week our visuals team explained in forensic detail why these aid centres are proving both deadly and inadequate for the scale of the disaster. British doctor Nick Maynard, a volunteer surgeon at Nasser hospital, wrote in a devastating column for our opinion section:

“What is being done to Palestinians in Gaza is barbaric and entirely preventable. I cannot believe we have come to a point where the world is watching as the people of Gaza are forced to endure starvation and gunfire, all while food and medical aid sit across the border just miles away from them.”

Yesterday the UK, France and Germany called for an immediate end to the “humanitarian catastrophe” and demanded Israel lifts restrictions on aid. It followed a tough statement by 28 countries attacking Israel for depriving Palestinians of “human dignity” on Monday. But even, as the global outcry at the killing of starving civilians grows, pressure is building on Israel’s traditional allies to do more.

Our UK political editor Pippa Crerar revealed that senior members of the cabinet are pressuring Keir Starmer to recognise Palestinian statehood (as France announced it would on Thursday), while our Politics Weekly UK podcast asked when Britain’s actions would match its political condemnations of Israel.

On Wednesday we published a powerful editorial on this point: until concrete action is taken, western allies such as the UK will remain complicit with these horrifying crimes: “Faced with the systematic destruction of Palestinian life in Gaza, other states must together produce a systematic, comprehensive and concrete response. If not now, when? What more would it take to convince them? "

This is first and foremost a catastrophe for Palestinians. But if states continue to allow international humanitarian law to be shredded, the repercussions will be felt by many more around the world in years to come. History will not ask whether these governments did anything to stop genocide by an ally, but whether they did all they could.”

--------------------------------

John Bellamy Comments:

I tried to Link this piece above to the original but could not, so cut and pasted it here for you. Apologies to the Guardian. It touched my heart. I had to share it with you all.

Hamilton Hall donated £100 towards food for Gaza and I encourage you to help - if you can - in some small way, as ' Every Little Helps' and when you see children starving to death, it reminds me of pictures of the Concentration Camps of WW2 and the horrors we witnessed then, or saw on TV programmes about WW2, and we thought - we actually assumed, it could not -would not - ever - happen again,- When it has - and many times around the world, and Gaza is yet ANOTHER example where lessons have not been learned - except maybe the continuation of examples of how cruel and destructive people can be to each other - and we are allowing it to happen all over again, the mass starvation of people in order to gain control.

WHEN WILL WE LEARN ?

Now I am not interested in the politics and who lived there first and who did what to whom and so forth, and presently I don't care for your religious beliefs and damnation you feel is due to others - WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND THE PUBLIC ARE NOT YOUR VICTIMS TO STARVE TO DEATH AND BOMB WHEN THEY SEARCH FOR FOOD. THAT MAKES YOU NO BETTER THAN ANY OTHER MASS MURDERER LIKE HITLER.

YOUR GOD OF CHOOICE IS DISGUSTED BY YOUR ACTIONS AND DO NOT ASSUME YOU ARE DOING HOLY WORK WHEN YOU MURDER AND STARVE CHILDREN. THAT IS EVIL AND NOT THE WORK OF GOD AT ALL.

So here we have the Jewish nation bombing women and children searching for food while expecting the world to back them with support. I don't care what Hamas did first or who said what and who started it and how far back it goes in history - THIS IS TODAY - AND CHILDREN ARE STARVING TO DEATH . PERIOD.

For all the state of Israel and its people have been through, clearly, they have learned absolutely nothing from their horrifying past and just seem hell bent on continuing mass genocide, mass slaughter of innocent people and mass destruction of an entire race.

Wasn't that what Hitler was trying to do with the Jews, and now here we have the Jews doing likewise to another people.

I am disgusted at what people will do in order to gain control and equaly as disgusted at the likes of Trump stating he wants to turn Gaza into a holiday turist resort and sell it off as Real Estate. Appalling - absolutely appalling.

John Bellamy

------------------------------------------------

HOME PAGE

BLOG HOME PAGE

DIARY OF EVENTS

All rights reserved.

TO BE DELETED FROM OUR SYSTEM

Return this e mail with

PLEASE DELETE OH HANDSOME ONE...

Our mailing address is

Hamilton Hall Hotel

1 Carysfort Road