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The Genocide in Gaza Goes on
by Joe McVeigh
During the last 22 months, at least 63,000 civilians have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli government. At least 240 journalists have been killed by the IDF. Of these 193 were Palestinians who were trying to let the outside world know the truth about what is taking place in Gaza. It is estimated that 1,600 medical staff have been killed by the Israeli forces. Netanyahu and his government do not seem to care about how many journalists or how many doctors or indeed how many civilians are killed in Gaza. He and his gang have one goal in mind-the obliteration of the Palestinian state and the expulsion of the Palestinian people. They have the full support of the United States government so they do not care what the rest of the world thinks or says or does.
It is hard for us to imagine what the people of Gaza are suffering at the hands of this cruel regime in Jerusalem backed by the US government and the British and the European governments including the Dublin government. We see the shocking attacks on innocent people every day on TV. We see the emaciated children dying of hunger because Netanyahu and the Israeli government refuse to allow trucks carrying food to reach the people.
The Palestinian people have been subjected to tyranny and oppression for centuries. Since 1948, when the Two State Solution was agreed by the United Nations, the people of Palestine have been persecuted by the US-backed Zionist government in Jerusalem.
After the Jewish holocaust in Germany under the Nazis, many Jews called on the world to support their demand for a separate Jewish state they called Israel. Before that there was only Palestine. The Zionists got their Jewish state and immediately began to expel Palestinians from their homes where they had lived for generations. The expulsion of Palestinians made way for new occupants from Russia, Americaand all over Europe. The Israeli population soon reached 6 million.
Some 2 million Palestinians were forced to live in the strip of land called Gaza and 3 million Palestinians were allowed to stay on what is called the West Bank-in towns like Bethlehem and Nablus and Nazareth. Their movements were restricted by the new Jewish government.
When I went to visit there in 1976, the West Bank was the only place we were allowed to visit. The country was like a war zone –with Israeli soldiers everywhere to be seen. It was a bit like the 6 counties at that time –so I did not feel too put out.
There had been a brief 6 Day war in 1967 when Israelis claimed more territory from the Palestinian people and introduced new laws to curb their movements. The people of the narrow Gaza strip (the size of county Louth) have been constantly under attack from Israeli soldiers since the 1948 settlement. They had their own government. The Palestinians organised to protect their territory and retaliated in the hope that the attacks on their people would cease. The attacks on Palestinians by Israeli forces did not cease. They have intensified to the extent that we see today -aerial bombs that have destroyed much of their buildings and infrastructure and caused thousands of lives of innocent people. The Palestinian hospitals have been destroyed. Only in recent weeks the Nasser hospital near the Egyptian border was destroyed killing 20 including six journalists.
And now, children are facing starvation as a result of the Israeli blockade which stops food getting into Gaza. The Israelis are using starvation as a weapon of war which is illegal in International law but Netanyahu does not care about International law. The United Nations has condemned this action by the Israelis-but Netanyahu does not care about the United Nations. The corrupt Israeli leader, Netanyahu, denies this is happening. He claims that the allegation of genocide is “false, baseless and blinded by hatred of Israel.”
So we see again that the first casualty of war is always the Truth. The Israeli government tells lies to justify what they are doing in Gaza. It is now clear that they want to force all Palestinians out of the region and claim the whole region for Israeli settlers. They have the backing of the United States. The Jews are a strong lobby in the USA.
There are up to 10,000 Palestinians in jail-many suffer torture and rape. It looks like there will not be a Two-State solution because the Zionists are intent on wiping out the Palestinian people and destroying their state by force. It is a truly shocking situation and a clear example of the abuse of power in our time.
During the Great Hunger/Starvation in Ireland in the 1840s the Choctaw people in America sent a large donation to the Irish people to show their solidarity. It has always been greatly appreciated. The Irish people have always shown solidarity with suffering and oppressed people around the world-especially in Africa-Nigeria, Sudan, South Africa and Kenya. Irish organisations and missionaries have always shown solidarity and support for the poor. Now is the time for the people of Ireland to show solidarity with the people of Palestine by prayer and action.
Hopefully, one day when the Palestinian people are free from Israeli oppression, they will be able to acknowledge and remember that in their hour of need, the people of Ireland stood by them. The Dublin government must stop allowing the US from using Shannon airport for re-fueling their planes carrying weapons to the Israelis.
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