by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
The Gaza Strip is one of two Palestinian territories currently controlled by Israel. It is a relatively small patch of land - 140 square miles - that lies in the southeastern corner of Israel and borders a stretch of the Mediterranean Sea and shares a southern border with Egypt. The population of the Gaza Strip is just over two million with about half of them being eighteen-years-old or younger, and nearly a third of the population living in the urban center of Gaza City.
Gaza City is where much of the fighting in the current war between Israel and Hamas, the authoritarian political power that controls Gaza, is occurring. Israel is bringing the war to Hamas after a surprise attack by Hamas on Israel five weeks ago yesterday on October 7th. The attack, which caught Israel off-guard, resulted in the deaths of more that 1,200 Israelis and the capture of 240 hostages. The immediate Israeli counterattack into Gaza has killed more than 11,000 Palestinians so far, and the attacks continue.
Yesterday there was a story in the press about a premature baby who was in an incubator at the largest hospital in Gaza when an Israeli airstrike cut out power to the hospital. The incubator shut down and the baby died. Today there are reports of the deaths of two more babies at the same hospital, and there are apparently as many as three dozen more there whose lives are in precarious circumstances. Food for patients and physicians is running out, electricity to the facility operates sporadically, and outside humanitarian agencies like the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders are being denied information as to what is occurring in Gaza hospitals, institutions that were once considered sacrosanct when it came to war.
The government of Israel says that it is in pursuit of the Hamas organization which committed the assault on Israel, but they also accuse Hamas of using civilians as human shields to protect their fighters, and consequently nothing appears to be out-of-bounds for this war. The government of Israel and its allies, including the United States, also spurn the notion of any prolonged cease fire in order to evacuate civilians from the areas of fighting because they feel that a cease fire would work to give the Hamas fighters time to regroup and strengthen.
United States Senator Tom Cotton, a "right-to-life" Republican from the state of Arkansas, added this fuel to the Mideast fire ten days or so after the fighting began. In a tweet the pious politician said:
"As far as I'm concerned, Israel can bounce the rubble in Gaza.Anything that happens in Gaza is the responsibility of Hamas."
It's a bloody mess, and reports of atrocities abound. Today much of Gaza, and especially Gaza City, is rubble, and the rubble is bouncing as more and more bombs and missiles strike over and over again. Apartment houses, shops, schools, and even hospitals are turning to rubble - and bouncing, and bouncing, and bouncing.
Nothing is safe, no one is safe. It is a humanitarian nightmare.
1 comment:
This war is the third intifada. The first, I have read, was a largely spontaneous uprising, mostly nonviolent, protests and work stoppages, which devolved to rock throwing and Molotov cocktails.
The second intifada, I understand, grew out of discontent with the Oslo peace accords. Depending on which spin doctor advises you, the intifada began either after Israeli opposition leader visited the Temple Mount, also known as Haram al-Sharif, al-Aqsa Mosque compound, or simply al-Aqsa, and sometimes as Jerusalem's holy esplanade. It is a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem that has been venerated as a holy site in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam for thousands of years. Or, Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian Authority (PA), decided that the new State of Palestine should be launched in blood and fire. Under this theory he let loose the dogs of war.
In the background of this third intifada one can clearly hear the discordant tunes of religious fundamentalism, orchestras of the three major faiths clashing in opposition to one another.
Seventeen years ago, Israel handed Gaza over to the Palestinian Authority. HAMAS quickly deposed the PA. For nearly two decades HAMAS has taken pains to subjugate the Palestinians, foment sectarian hate, and build a labyrinth of tunnels to be used for this intifada. What they did not do was use the vast fortunes available to them from Iran to make life better for the Palestinian people. Indeed, Arab States have largely treated Palestinians as unwanted stepchildren.
America has not waged peace. HAMAS has not waged peace. Israel has not waged peace. The Arab States have not waged peace. The world is paying the price for its failure to wage peace.
The winds of war are blowing. Iran is behind HAMAS and Hezbollah. Iran is selling drones to Putin in his war against the Ukraine. Iran is selling oil, despite sanctions imposed by President Obama and overridden by President Trump, to places like China. Revenues earned by those sales are fueling global terrorist activities.
I yearn for a simpler time when a man in power could relieve tension with a simple blowjob; I am thinking of you Mr. Speaker!
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