Dispatch #133 White Lesbian Age 71 Considers the Ongoing Savage Depravity of Israel’s Genocide Campaign Unconditionally Funded & Enabled by US

March 4th 2024   1139 Days Since Inauguration of First Woman Vice-President

256 Days Until 2024 Presidential Elections 11/5/2024

619 Days Since SCOTUS Ruled American Women Don’t Have Human Rights

150 Days Since Israel Began Genocidal Assault on Palestinians in Gaza

Israel Kills 104 Palestinians Waiting for Food Aid as U.N. Expert Accuses Israel of Starving Gaza. This comes as reports grow of Palestinians resorting to animal feed and cactus leaves for sustenance and of children dying from malnutrition and dehydration. “Every single person in Gaza is hungry,” says Michael Fakhri, U.N.'s special rapporteur on the right to food who emphasizes that famine in the modern context is a human-made catastrophe. “At this point I'm running out of words to be able to describe the horror of what’s happening and how vile the actions have been by Israel against the Palestinian civilians.” www.democracynow.org/2024/2/29/united_nations_gaza_starvation 

UN reports at least 14 cases of Israel firing on Palestinians waiting for aid in Gaza.

UN calls for an investigation following Thursday's "flour massacre" where Israel killed at least 115 Palestinians waiting for aid and injured more than 760. The need for aid is becoming even more dire as starvation worsens in northern Gaza. https://mondoweiss.net/2024/03/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-148-un-reports-at-least-14-cases-of-israel-firing-on-palestinians-waiting-for-aid-in-gaza/ 

Now, a new level of brutality – bombing, shooting and killing starving Palestinians coming to get food from humanitarian aid trucks. With impunity and without accountability, the savage depravity of Israel’s genocide campaign recognizes no bounds, thanks to the US.  Doctors report that 80% of 760 injured have gunshot wounds – substantial number of these people will die as hospitals are nonfunctioning with no treatment capacities.

Flour soaked in blood. The "flour massacre" marked a new phase in Israel's starving of northern Gaza when the army opened fire on crowds waiting for aid trucks. “Our lives must have become so cheap for so many people to die in this way.”  https://mondoweiss.net/2024/03/flour-soaked-in-blood/ 

Responding to the outcry about the flour massacre, Israel claims “lawlessness” due to the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers. And yet, IDF tanks appear to be roaming all around North Gaza, shooting at anything moving, always around when an aid convoy arrives. (IDF soldiers post videos of their tanks running over Palestinian bodies-- Israel blocks journalists from entering Gaza for a reason.) Israel has created an urban hellscape of ruined neighborhoods where Palestinians have been living for more than 5 months without food, water and electricity – desperate families with starving children who are dying.  

Israel is ‘engineering famine’ in Gaza.

Amnesty International says Israel is “engineering famine” in Gaza. Organization head Agnes Callamard adds, “all states that cut UNRWA funding, sold weapons and supported Israel bear responsibility too.” https://mondoweiss.net/2024/03/operation-al-aqsa-flood-day-150-israel-is-engineering-famine-in-gaza/

On January 26^th, the International Court of Justice, finding a plausible case for genocide against Palestinians, ordered Israel to deliver by February 26^th a report on Israel’s compliance with several ICJ rulings to prevent genocide.  Instead, during the last 30 days, with US support, Israel has defied the ICJ and doubled down on blocking humanitarian aid, indiscriminate bombing, and destroying hospitals.

Israel defying ICJ ruling to prevent genocide by failing to allow adequate humanitarian aid to reach Gaza www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/02/israel-defying-icj-ruling-to-prevent-genocide-by-failing-to-allow-adequate-humanitarian-aid-to-reach-gaza/ Israel appears to be in breach of ICJ orders on Gaza, senior UN official says. 

Special rapporteur cites lack of medical supplies, food and clean water, and continued demolition of infrastructure. www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/10/israel-appears-to-be-in-breach-of-icj-orders-on-gaza-senior-un-official-says  

Human Rights Watch says Israel has failed to carry out ICJ order in genocide case. 

"The Israeli government is starving Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians, putting them in even more peril than before the world's court's binding order," Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at HRW, said in a statement. "The Israeli government has simply ignored the court's ruling, and in some ways even intensified its repression, including further blocking lifesaving aid." www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/human-rights-watch-says-israel-has-failed-to-carry-out-icj-order-in-genocide-case/ar-BB1iUwZ3 

The Biden Administration Joins Israel’s War on UNRWA.

Following Washington’s lead, key US allies have cut funding for the United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestine—making them all complicit in genocide. www.thenation.com/article/world/us-israel-funding-unrwa-palestinians/

Israel, supported 100% by the US, has flagrantly normalized behaviors heretofore forbidden under international law – i.e., destroying hospitals and killing medical staff; destroying universities, schools, libraries, mosques; bombing UN-protected schools; targeting civilians by the tens of thousands by relentlessly bombing dense urban neighborhoods; utterly destroying urban infrastructure necessary for life. 

The US and Israel have denigrated and dismantled the international rules-based order established in the aftermath of World War II.  US and Western allies angrily announce substantial sanctions on Russia for one dead Russian; Israel, however, will get billions of dollars in arms for 40,000 dead Gazans. The brazenness of this hypocrisy is obscene.  

Over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed. Biden says critics should, “Give this just a little bit of time”.  The President made the comments during a wide-ranging interview with The New Yorker. https://mondoweiss.net/2024/03/over-30000-palestinians-have-been-killed-biden-says-critics-should-give-this-just-a-little-bit-of-time/  UN officials and NGO experts readily acknowledge that the number of Palestinians killed is likely more than 40,000 thereby bringing total Palestinian casualties to more than 110,000 in five months.  

Perhaps if Genocide Joe, reputed to be a compassionate person, saw Palestinians as full human beings, then he wouldn’t be so cavalier about halting the ongoing 24/7 killing, maiming, and terrorism in Gaza. President Biden -- how much longer must the Israeli massacres and genocide continue!? How much Palestinian suffering is enough!?

Twin babies among 14 killed in Israeli airstrike on house in Rafah.

Five-month-old boy and girl born to a couple after 10 years of trying died in blast at home that also killed their father and 11 other extended family members. www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/04/twin-babies-killed-israeli-airstrike-house-rafah  How will their mother, Rania Abu Anza, be able find a way to survive this catastrophic grief. 

What about the parents who saw the body parts of their seven-year-old daughter hanging on a wall.  Or the boy who found his baby sister in the rubble with her head blown off.  Or the teen-age girl who saw her mother dying buried in rubble up to her waist.  Or the six-year-old who lost her entire family along with her arm and leg.  More than 72,000 Palestinians are physically wounded and maimed, at least 70% are women and children.  Untold hundreds of thousand Palestinians are mentally wounded and maimed. 

Wow! The US appears to discover the famine created by Israel in Gaza! Vice President Harris decries the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, while indirectly blaming Hamas for the situation, and Biden orders an airdrop of 38,000 meals. Gosh, what a bold step for 1.4M starving Palestinians who need more than 500 aid trucks every day for weeks to stave off famine.  

Report from Rafah: U.S. Airdrops Food to Gaza While Arming Israel to Drop Bombs.

Gaza-based journalist Akram al-Satarri reports “It looks like the objective is to continue the starvation of the people of Gaza and to kill them when they dare to think that they can secure something to feed their children.” Al-Satarri adds that U.S. airdrops of aid are doing little to relieve the suffering of millions in Gaza while U.S. military aid supports Israeli attacks. “In one hand, they are providing people with food, and in the other hand, they are providing people with death.” www.democracynow.org/2024/3/4/gaza_starvation_akram_al_satarri 

Senator Jeff Merkley: U.S. “Complicit in Starvation and Humanitarian Catastrophe” in Gaza 

“The seasoned humanitarian aid workers that I met with at Rafah gate and in Egypt and in Jordan said they have been in the worst conflict zones in the world, places like the frontline of Ukraine, places like Yemen and Somalia, and that nothing compares to the combination of tragedies that are simultaneously occurring in Gaza. The humanitarian situation is horrific.” “Because of the United States’ relationship to Israel….It’s the United States that has leverage to address this situation, and the world expects us to take the lead.” www.democracynow.org/2024/2/29/jeff_merkley_gaza_ceasefire 

The US has the power, and the moral obligation, to threaten Israel, demand an immediate ceasefire, demand withdrawal of Israeli military from Gaza, renew US funding for UNRWA, and order all border crossings open 24/7 for the flow of humanitarian aid.  Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas and other groups have publicly pledged to abide by a ceasefire.  

How will the US atone for enabling this genocide, for inflicting unimaginable suffering on 2Million Palestinians, for dismissing the UN and the ICJ, for rendering humanity relatively irrelevant?