Yossi Schwartz ISL (RCIT section in Israel/occupied Palestine), 03.03.2024
Jews who study the Bible know very well the result of a siege and starvation. In Lamentations 2:20-22 the ancient Jewish poet scribes the severity of the starvation in the city by referring to desperate acts of cannibalism, specifically of women eating their own children.
20 “Look, Lord, and consider: Whom have you ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the children they have cared for? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 “Young and old lie together in the dust of the streets; my young men and young women have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of your anger; you have slaughtered them without pity.
22 “As you summon to a feast day, so, you summoned against me terrors on every side. In the day of the Lord’s anger no one escaped or survived; those I cared for and reared my enemy had destroyed.”
The Jews remember this starvation as weapons and as Thet B’av
Such shocking imagery leads many readers to wonder: Is this true? During the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, did women really cannibalize their dead children? The answer is that we simply cannot know. On the one hand, this is poetry, not a dry historic account. Poetry uses hyperbole and vivid imagery to communicate emotion. The shock and horror of this idea helped to drive home the depth of suffering that the people experienced, regardless of whether particular incidents of cannibalism actually happened. On the other hand, we know that throughout history siege warfare has been a brutally effective tactic in part because it stops the flow of goods—including food and other humanitarian supplies—in and out of the besieged city. Suffering yields desperation, so it is not out of the realm of possibility that the author of the poem observed this happening, even if only once. The starvation that comes with siege warfare is excruciating and indiscriminate; not only soldiers and yet the Zionists have been using this horrible weapon for the genocide of the Palestinian of Gaza.
“What we are witnessing in Gaza right now is the mass killing of children in slow motion,” says Alexandra Saieh, head of humanitarian policy and advocacy at Save the Children International.The Gaza Health Ministry says six children died in north Gaza from dehydration and malnutrition at Kamal Adwan and al-Shifa hospitals, while others are in critical condition.Doctors Without Borders warns that Gaza’s whole healthcare system is collapsing: “Healthcare has been attacked, it’s collapsing.”It is “a matter of life and death” that more aid crossings opened to Gaza, says Samantha Power, the head of USAID.
At least 29,954 people have been killed and 70,325 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from the October 7 attacks stands at 1,139″ [1]
“The United States is considering using airdrops to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip, according to reports from the US news site Axios.While airdrops can deliver vital supplies, are they a real alternative when it comes to feeding Gaza’s 2.3 million people? According to the World Food Program me (WFP), airdrops are a “last resort” for a number of reasons, including the “relatively small quantities” that can be delivered compared with a convoy of trucks” [2]
“Malnutrition, epidemic disease and trauma is everywhere,” Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, has said of the situation in Rafah in southern Gaza Visiting a school sheltering some 4,500 displaced people who fled Gaza City in the north of the enclave and nearby Khan Younis, Egeland said he was “shocked by conditions” people were forced to live in.“The disabled, the pregnant and the newborn share 18 latrines with 4,500 others,” he wrote on social media.In an earlier post from the Rafah border crossing into Gaza, Egeland said hundreds of aid trucks are waiting to travel into the Palestinian territory to help “a starving civilian population”.“The system is broken,” he said of the process involved in allowing aid into Gaza.“Israel could fix it for the sake of the innocent,” he added” [3]
Malnutrition, epidemic disease and trauma is everywhere,” Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, has said of the situation in Rafah in southern Gaza.
Visiting a school sheltering some 4,500 displaced people who fled Gaza City in the north of the enclave and nearby Khan Younis, Egeland said he was “shocked by conditions” people were forced to live in “The disabled, the pregnant and the newborn share 18 latrines with 4,500 others,” he wrote on social media In an earlier post from the Rafah border crossing into Gaza, Egeland said hundreds of aid trucks are waiting to travel into the Palestinian territory to help “a starving civilian population”.“The system is broken,” he said of the process involved in allowing aid into Gaza Israel could fix it for the sake of the innocent,” he added.” [4]
“Egypt joined Jordan’s airdrop operations for the first time on Tuesday, a day after a joint mission Jordan undertook with France.” [5]
“With the smell of caramel corn in the air and cotton candy in their hands, around 500 Israelis gathered at the Israeli Nitzana border crossing with Egypt on Tuesday to protest against sending aid into Gaza.
“You cannot expect the country to fight its enemy and feed it at the same time,” Rachel Touitou of Tzav 9, an Israeli movement formed in December to block aid to Gaza, told The New Arab. Tzav 8 refers to the alert code sent to Israeli army reservists when a draft is initiated.
Over the last two months, Israelis have gathered at Nitzana and Kerem Shalom – which borders Gaza and is roughly eight kilometers from Rafah – crossings to prevent supplies like food, fuel, water, and medicine, largely administered by the United Nations, from entering the besieged enclave.” [6]
Those colonialist settlers who want to kill women children’s old people and men instead of demanding release all for all do not deserve any sympathy.
Down with the Zionist partied state from the river to the sea!
For Palestine red and free from the river to the sea!
Endnotes:
[1] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/29/israels-war-on-gaza-live-mass-killing-of-children-in-slow-motion-ngo?update=2739035
[2] Ibid
[3] Ibid
[4] Ibid
[5] https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/02/27/world/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news
[6] https://www.newarab.com/analysis/gaza-starves-israeli-protesters-are-blocking-vital-aid