It got cold in Georgia last week. We pushed our thermostat up, bought an extra
little space heater for our sun room and mostly stayed inside where it was
warm. It also got cold in Gaza , twice as cold and
the freezing temperatures did not stay outside. Five babies froze to death.
One month old, two months old, three months old, five months
old, and eighteen months old. And all
dead. But, what are five babies to Israel ?
Why should the Jewish state care about the death of five
non-Jewish babies even if the State of Israel is responsible for their deaths? Israel’s
attitude is, if the people of conscience around the world are bothered by the
death of a few babies, then let them rescue number six and number… no telling
how many. But, to do so they will have
to get around Israel’s blockade of electricity, heating oil, medicines, food
and construction materials from entering Gaza. However, people of conscience will try. Other
people have been cleaning up Israel ’s
mess for almost a century now.
Article 32 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a
signatory, states:
A protected person/s shall not have
anything done to them of such a character as to cause physical suffering or
extermination.
Even the most mundane physical abuse is thereby forbidden by
Article 32.
Yet, since Israel ’s
bombardment of Gaza
last summer, families are forced to live in damaged houses. Many people sounded
the alarm as to what would happen if repairs where not immediately done. Severe
winter storms came as predicted. Heavy
rains blew into houses without roofs or walls and soaked the floors. Then the
temperature dropped to 4 degrees, With Israel having cut off the electricity
for 16-18 hours every day, parents simply could not keep their children warm.
Christopher Gunness, spokesman for the United Nations Relief
and Works Agency said that money for aiding Palestinians is running out:
The consequences of suspending the
program would be dire as Gaza ’s
1.8 million people struggle to recover from last summer’s fighting… The conflict
damaged or destroyed more than 96,000 homes, more than double the original estimate….
More than 14,000 people driven from their homes live in schools run by UNWRA,
while others live in makeshift shelters or prefabricated housing or homes so
badly damaged that they are exposed to the elements.[1]
It was obvious to anyone willing to see that if something
were not done before winter, people were going to be very cold and some,
especially old folks and the very young, were going to die. But, who cares? Not Israel , and not our government. These were real children, loved by real mothers
and fathers and who had a God given right to be protected and kept warm.
One and a half year-old Fadi Qudeih
died on Tuesday, January 6th. His home had been demolished during Israel ’s attack on Gaza this past summer.
On Friday, January 9th, two-month old Rahaf Abu-Assi died following the drop in temperature.
Salma Al-Masri froze to death in
Beit Hanoun on Saturday, January 10th. He was three months old.
Dying on that same day, January 10th,
was baby Adel Al-Laham, one month old.
Sami Abu Khesi found his son, Wadle,
dead of hypothermia on January 15th. He was five months old
None of this seems to be significant enough to make the
evening news in the U.S.
media. Americans are ignorant of what is
happening in Gaza
even when it’s being done with the support of our government and money. We are committed
to our ignorance.
I can’t imagine watching my grandchildren growing cold
to the degree of freezing to death. Add to that, the knowledge that the
situation causing their death was deliberately planned and executed, would be
more than I could emotionally handle.
So, OK civilized people, Gaza needs help. And so far, over 5.4 billion dollars have
been pledged to rebuild what Israel
destroyed. However, less than 1/1000th of needed materials have been
allowed by Israel into Gaza .[2]
To the person, our Senate votes to support Israel . What if
five babies freeze to death? They are not the children of our governmental
leaders. I feel sorry for the suffering
families of Gaza . I feel even more sorrow for those of us who
allow it to happen.
Thomas
Are
January
27, 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment