Israel must stop their cruel slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza - Steve Cardownie

The situation in Gaza merits such attention, with at least 181 journalists and media workers killed since Israel’s retaliation, but in an attempt to avoid scrutiny of its actions, Israel will not allow international news teams into Gaza.

This prompted the BBC’s Jeremy Bowen to say that “Since the best way to check controversial and difficult stories is first hand, that means the fog of war, always hard to penetrate, is as thick as I have ever experienced in a lifetime of war reporting.”

Of course, the vicious attacks on Israelis by Hamas on 7 October 2023, when more than 1195 people were killed, of which 815 were civilians, was shocking, but Israel’s response is hardly commensurate and is totally unjustifiable.

Figures released by the Ministry of Health in Gaza record that at least 54,607 Palestinians have been killed and more than 125,341 wounded between the 7 October attacks and 4 June this year demonstrate that this is so.

According to UNICEF, by January this year 14,500 Palestinian children have been killed in Gaza by Israel. Gaza holds the unenviable record of having the most child amputees in the world.

The conflict has displaced 90 per cent of the territory’s 2 million population, caused a hunger crisis and obliterated vast swathes of Gaza’s urban landscape.

The prominent Israeli American historian and genocide scholar, Raz Segal was the first academic to describe Israel’s war on Gaza as a “textbook case of genocide.”

He said “Can I name someone whose work I respect who does not think that it is genocide? No, there is no counter argument that takes into account all the evidence.”

Some are reluctant to speak out about Israeli atrocities for fear of being labelled anti-semitic. Although in the grand scheme of things my opinion hardly matters, one of my previous roles as an Anti-Nazi League activist, defines my stance on this issue.

The horrors of the Holocaust cannot be understated but it is reprehensible that some deliberately choose to use the systematic murder of Europe’s Jews by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Second World War to quell any criticism of Israel’s current bloody incursion into Gaza and the cost in human lives by labelling such critics “anti-semitic.”

As recently as Monday it was reported that 56 Palestinians had been killed that morning in Gaza, including 38 people who were seeking help for their starving families at distribution points.

Israeli Parliament opposition leader and former General Yair Golan, spoke on the public radio station, Reshet Bet and said that “a sane country doesn’t engage in fighting against civilians, doesn’t kill babies as a hobby and doesn’t set itself the goals of expelling a population.”

The voices of condemnation of Israel’s atrocious conduct in Gaza are growing louder. However, words are not enough and appropriate sanctions against Israel should be put in place.

The people of Palestine deserve no less as they witness the destruction of Gaza and the wanton disregard for human life.