Israel is painting its fighter jets pink. When I read that I
immediately thought, “how appropriate.” In my day, pink was known as a feminine
color. If we saw a man dressed in pink, we immediately thought “sissy.” So, painting Israeli jets pink seems like a
confession. Israel seldom uses its jets to attack anyone who can fight back. Palestinians
in Gaza come to mind.
Then, I read that Israel is painting its jets pink to show “sympathy
with victims of breast cancer.” How flagrant
can one be in its hypocrisy? Gaza is
suffering a gross lack of painkillers, surgical equipment and critical drugs because
of the Israeli blockade.
Salem Abdul Aziz is a Palestinian
parent witnessing the slow death of his cancer stricken daughter. After receiving
a referral from the Palestinian ministry of health to treat his daughter in
Jerusalem, Salam was unable to take her due to Israeli authorities prolonging
procedures, which meant he could not get through the Erez crossing into
Jerusalem.[1]
According to NPR (December 2015), “In Gaza, Kids With Cancer
Have ‘Virtually No Care.’ They must have a permit from the Israeli army to leave
Gaza and then, on the rare occasions when permission is granted, children
cannot be accompanied by anyone under the age of 55 which restricts parent from
being with their child during a frightening and often painful experience. Hopefully some of these children have a
grandmother strong enough to go.
Umaimah Zamalat was worried. The doctors had told her that
her cancer was “very sensitive” to delays. She had reason to be concerned. With
all of her permits in order, she was stopped at the border by Israeli soldiers
and simply told that going to Jerusalem was no longer allowed.[2]
John Pilger, award-winning journalist, reports of, “an
Israeli sniper putting the cross-hairs of his rifle directly on an old lady
with a cane trying to get into a hospital for her chemotherapy treatment. She
was shot dead.”[3] Israel can paint its planes any color it
wants to, but shooting an old lady with cancer is nothing short of state
terrorism. Such acts do not raise awareness for those who are sick but it does
show Israel’s true colors.
And if that is not enough, according to UNRWA, reporting on
Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in the summer of 2014:
By Saturday, August 2, the Israeli
military had attacked a full third of Gaza’s hospitals, along with fourteen
primary healthcare clinics and twenty-nine ambulances. “It was insane, we were
waiting and the hospital was begging the Israelis to delay and give us some
time to evacuate and get the wounded out. The whole time, ambulances were
rushing to the hospital with large numbers of injured people… Every floor was
covered with wounded patients. We were treating the injured in dental chairs,
doing surgery on the ground, doing anything we could to save people.”[4]
It will take a lot of pink paint to cover up Israel’s atrocious abuse
of the Palestinians.
Thomas Are
November 5, 2016
[1]
Mondoweiss, Israel Paints Fighter Jet
pink to raise Breast Cancer Awareness while Preventing cancer patients in Gaza
from REceivig Treatment. Mondoweiss, October, 28, 2016
[3]
DVD Documentary, Palestine is Still the
Issue, Produced by Carlton International Media, 2004, available from
Bullfrog Films.
[4]
Max Blumenthal, The 51 Day War,
(Nation Books, 2015) p. 104-5
I am in awe of your morality. If only western politicians have an iota of your compassion and benevolence, Israel would not commit crimes with impunity.
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