Palestinian poet Ahmed Abu Artema was seriously injured in an Israeli airstrike on October 24 that also killed five members of his family, including his 12-year-old son. Artema helped inspire the Great March of Return, a series of nonviolent protests in Gaza starting in 2018 when thousands of Palestinians marched to the militarized fence separating them from their ancestral homes inside Israel, braving deadly Israeli sniper fire that killed hundreds and injured thousands more. Artema spoke with Democracy Now!about the mass protests in 2019. “The Palestinians in Gaza are actually in a real prison,” he said. “When tens of thousands of Palestinians share in the March of Return, they want to say that we never gave up our right to return.”
Palestinian officials, U.N. experts, and even Israeli media say nearly 7,000 men, women, and children have been killed by Israel’s indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling.
An Israeli think tank with ties to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a report on October 17 promoting the “unique and rare opportunity” for the “relocation and final settlement of the entire Gaza population.”
“Biden’s immediate and decisive show of support for Israel following the October 7 attacks by Hamas appears to have turned off some in his own party,” wrote a Gallup research consultant.
Israeli propaganda officials are reportedly upset because elderly Israeli woman Yocheved Lifshitz said that she was treated well while she was detained by Hamas in Gaza over the last two weeks.
Freedom of the press is important and critical in any situation, especially now. However, Israel’s public diplomacy officials must issue an unequivocal directive that prohibits live media events of this kind in the future. The public’s right to know is important, but not when national security is at stake. In such times, the public can suffice with a recorded and supervised message.
The Libyan parliament on Wednesday demanded the departure of ambassadors from countries that “support” Israel as it fights Hamas in Gaza, taking specific aim at the United States, Britain, France and Italy.
With Israel’s savage bombardment of the Gaza Strip continuing unabated, the humanitarian crisis faced by its 2.3 million residents has reached horrendous dimensions. In addition to an official death toll approaching 7,000, over 1.4 million people have been displaced by Israel’s genocidal onslaught, while supplies of food, clean water and fuel are on the verge of expiring.
You must be logged in to post a comment.