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Gaza – The Gates of Hell
Last Saturday millions across the world, including here in Belfast, participated in one of the biggest ever solidarity events as part of a Global Day of Action in support of the Palestinian people. At the same time dozens of boats, and hundreds of human rights activists, are taking part in the largest civilian freedom flotilla. Among them are three senior Sinn Féin representatives; Lynn Boylan MEP, Seanadoir David Andrews and Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh TD. They are all on their way to the Gaza Strip in a courageous effort to break Israel’s illegal blockade. Their aim is to deliver much needed food and medicine to the people of that besieged territory.
Next month will mark two years since the commencement of the Israeli genocide assault against the Palestinian people, following the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023. The statistics of death and destruction are horrendous. To date almost 65,000 Palestinians have been confirmed as killed with many thousands more buried under the rubble of Gaza. Almost 20,000 children have been murdered and tens of thousands have suffered serious injuries, many of them life changing.
UNICEF has described the situation in Gaza City as catastrophic with starvation now an integral part of Israel’s genocidal war against civilians. Eight Palestinian children die every day from starvation. The Israeli forces kill 28 children every day. Over 350 children are daily being admitted to the limited U.N. facilities still operating within the Gaza Strip, suffering from acute malnutrition. Many will not survive and those who do will suffer from health problems for the rest of their lives because of this experience.
According to UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell: “Famine is now a grim reality for children… As we have repeatedly warned, the signs were unmistakable: children with wasted bodies, too weak to cry or eat; babies dying from hunger and preventable disease; parents arriving at clinics with nothing left to feed their children.”
All of this is happening as Israel’s western allies, the USA, European Union and the British government continue to back Netanyahu’s genocidal strategy. In the last three weeks the Israeli occupation forces have intensified their bombing of civilian targets in Gaza City killing over a thousand people. Boasting of the attacks the Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that “the bolt has now been removed from the gates of hell in Gaza.”
In addition, around 60,000 Israeli Army reservists have been called up to reinforce the Israeli Army’s military resources to implement Netanyahu’s invasion plan. In the last week an estimated one million people have been told by Israel to leave their tents and the homes they have created amidst the rubble as Israel’s full scale invasion is imminent. It is claimed by some of the regional media, based on intelligence information from Egypt, that Netanyahu is determined to raise the Israeli flag over an occupied Gaza City to mark the second anniversary of Israel’s holocaust against the Palestinians.
As part of the growing instability in the region the Egyptian government has sent 40,000 troops to Gaza’s border with Egypt in expectation that Israel is planning to force Palestinian refugees out of the Gaza Strip into the Sinai desert and Egypt.
This latest escalation in Israel’s genocide follows the publication of a report by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) - a 500-member body of academics, historians, lawyers and human rights specialists. This respected group of scholars voted overwhelmingly in support of a new resolution that accuses Israel of pursuing policies and actions that meet the legal definition of genocide under the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Almost 90% of those members who participated in the ballot backed the resolution. It states that the actions of Israel constitute genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. It states: “These crimes include deliberate attacks on civilians, including children, starvation, deprivation of humanitarian aid, water, fuel, and other essentials, sexual and reproductive violence, and forced displacement of the population.”
The report also notes that Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant are subject to international arrest warrants for crimes, including, the starvation of civilians and intentional attacks on civilian populations. The International Court of Justice has also accused Israel of committing genocide.
So, well done to all of those who continue to confront and challenge Israel’s war crimes. The problem is that the most powerful states in the west support the Israeli government’s war. Until this obscenity is challenged the carnage will continue. All of us who value peace and justice must never stop raising our voices in support of peace in the Middle East and freedom for the people of Palestine.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Movies can uplift and depress, frighten and inspire, and occasionally make us laugh. The Irish experience, through films like Hunger, which tells the story of Bobby Sands; In the Name of the Father which recounts the miscarriage of Justice experienced by the Guildford Four; of Michael Collins; Bloody Sunday and others is evidence of this. These movies focussed on important political or historical events while successfully and emotionally impacting on audiences.
Last week ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ received the longest ever standing ovation at the Venice film festival and won the Silver Lion prize. It is a drama based on true events – the killing by Israel of a five-year-old Palestinian child, Hind Rajab, in Gaza in January 2024.
Hind was in a car with her Aunt and Uncle and four cousins trying to flee Israeli forces. Their car was struck by a shell and the adults and three children were killed. An Israeli tank fired consistently into the trapped vehicle. The fourth cousin was later killed. Hind was alone, surrounded by the bodies of her relatives. She spent hours on a mobile phone with the Palestine Red Crescent Society. She was terrified. She pleaded for help. “Come take me. You will come and take me? … I’m so scared, please come. Please call someone to come and take me.” Desperately the Red Crescent sought clearance from the Israeli Army to send an ambulance. They never got it.
Eventually her body and those of her family were found in their bullet riddled car. The Ambulance was found parked nearby. The two medics who had courageously tried to reach her had been murdered.
The French-Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania asked the Red Crescent for the audio of the call. The voice heard in the film is Hind Rajab’s own voice. The director told the Venice audience that Hind Rajab’s story was not just about her but was the voice of “an entire people enduring genocide.”
The story of Hind Rajab goes to the heart of Israel’s genocide. Well done to those who have produced this important movie.
Van The Man
A very happy 80th birthday to Van Morrison. This column is a big fan of Van the Mans music. It is great that he is still so creative. His latest offering Remembering Now is a gem. It is reflective and musically very very positive and uplifting. Not bad for a man who started in the sixties . Still going strong.
Remember Them? Remember, Here Comes The Night? Gloria? Baby Please Dont Go? Moondance? Like Mr Morrison they all stand up well over half a century later. Ralph McTell of the BBC’s Radio Ulster, a man who knows good music, did a special run of his regular programme dedicated to Van Morrisons top 80 songs as chosen by radio listeners. It is still availible on Radio Ulsters App. Well worth a listen to.
All the old favourites are here. I wont name them. There are too many. But Brown Eyed Girl, Cleaning Windows (I also cleaned windows in the late Sixties. For about three weeks.) Madame George, Into The Mystic, Cyprus Avenue, Raglan Road, Carrickfergus and so on and so on. From jazz, skiffle, R&B, Folk, Blues and Rock and Roll. Music to uplift and take us out off ourselves. So thank you Mr Morrison.
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