October
18, 2023
On
Tuesday, the Israeli military dropped a massive GPS-guided bomb on the Al-Ahli
Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, killing more than 500 medical personnel,
patients and refugees. The hospital, operated by the Anglican Christian Church,
had been sheltering over 1,000 people who were displaced by the bombing.
Bodies
of Palestinians killed by an Israeli airstrike at the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist
Hospital are gathered in the front yard of the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City,
central Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, October 17, 2023. (AP Photo/AbedKhaled) [AP Photo/Abed Khaled]
Doctors and medical staff at the hospital had courageously refused Israeli
demands that they relocate further south, stating that there were not enough
beds in southern Gaza to accommodate their critically wounded patients.
This
atrocity has triggered mass protests by hundreds of thousands throughout the
Middle East, Europe and America. Thousands rallied outside the White House,
with banners accusing US President Joe Biden of genocide.
The
Israeli government and US media have launched a campaign to promote the lie
that the Palestinians bombed their own hospital. Israel denied responsibility
for the bombing, claiming that the attack was caused by a rocket launched from
Gaza that misfired. The entire world knows this is an absurd fabrication. This
massacre was conducted by Israel, with the support of the US-NATO axis.
There
is nothing accidental about the Gaza bombing. It is only the latest, and most
heinous, in a string of dozens of attacks on hospitals, residential buildings and
other civilian infrastructure over the past 10 days. It is entirely in keeping
with Israel’s strategy for the war, which is to terrorize the population by
inflicting massive casualties and deaths.
On
October 13, Israel dropped leaflets demanding that 1.1 million people leave
northern Gaza. Israel has created a “free fire zone” in northern Gaza in which
every man, woman and child is a target. The Atlantic Council, a pro-war US
think tank, noted that Israeli bombings, which have killed over 3,000 people over
the past 10 days, have targeted “specifically protected locations, including
hospitals, markets, refugee camps, mosques, educational facilities, and entire
neighborhoods.”
It
stated that Israel’s “indiscriminate attacks on densely populated civilian
areas and attacks lacking precautions violate IHL [international humanitarian
law] and likely amount to war crimes. When carried out systematically or in a
widespread manner, they may constitute crimes against humanity.”
Just
days before the attack, Israel fired “warning” shots at the hospital using live
ammunition, according to Gaza’s undersecretary of the Ministry of Health.
Following the strike, the Israeli army demanded the hospital be evacuated,
saying, “We warned you yesterday with two shells.”
An
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman told CNN that Israel had “intercepted
conversations” revealing that “they understand that it was a rocket that
misfired.” This reference to “intercepted conversations” immediately recalls
Colin Powell’s infamous 2003 speech before the UN, where he trumpeted
“intercepted communications” as proving the existence of weapons of mass
destruction.
In
response to the attack, Biden wrote on Twitter, “I am outraged and deeply
saddened by the explosion at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, and the
terrible loss of life that resulted. The United States stands unequivocally for
the protection of civilian life during conflict, and we mourn the patients,
medical staff, and other innocents killed or wounded in this tragedy.”
What
cynicism and hypocrisy!
All
the imperialist powers are implicated in this war crime. The attack on the
Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital was carried out only hours after German
Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited with Netanyahu, declaring that Germany “has only
one place... and that is alongside Israel.”
Cynically
using German imperialism’s own crimes to justify Israel’s crimes, Scholz said
that Germany’s “responsibility... for the Holocaust requires us to help
maintain the security and existence of Israel.” As if the masses of
Palestinians being bombed and starved to death had anything to do with the mass
murder of European Jews by the Nazis.
The
hospital bombing came less than 24 hours before the scheduled arrival of Biden
in Israel “to stand in solidarity” with the Netanyahu government. Israel has
rolled out the red carpet for Biden, dyed in the blood of 500 Palestinians
murdered Tuesday. As Biden’s plane touches down, bodies will continue to be
pulled from the rubble.
Biden
is expressing his “outrage” by traveling to Israel to shake Netanyahu’s hand
and congratulate him on the attack, which in all likelihood was carried out
with a bomb and fighter jet provided by the United States. His administration
is totally implicated in this atrocity.
Over
the weekend, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared that there were no
“red lines” beyond which the United States would not support Israel. The
Department of State has declared that it is impermissible for US officials to
call for a ceasefire or de-escalation.
The
far-right Netanyahu regime has initiated a campaign of genocide and ethnic
cleansing against the population of Gaza. It has displaced hundreds of
thousands of people from the country’s north, systematically bombed civilian
infrastructure, and cut off food, water, electricity and medical care to the
entire population. The goal of Israel’s government is to displace the people of
Gaza from their land and to turn those it does not kill into stateless,
landless refugees.
The
plan was spelled out by one Israeli official, who said that Gaza would be
reduced to “a city of tents” and “razed to the ground.” This policy has the
full support of the imperialist powers, who have given Israel, their client
state in the Middle East, carte blanche to massacre and displace the
Palestinians.
The
language used by Israeli and US officials over the past week was aimed at
creating the atmosphere in which this type of terror could be implemented. Both
Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called the Palestinians “animals.”
On Tuesday, Netanyahu went further, calling the Palestinians the “children of
darkness.” Last week, Biden echoed this language, calling the actions of
Palestinians who broke out of their prison camp “pure evil.”
Longtime
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat often repeated the saying: “We are not the Red
Indians,” referring to the systematic despoiling, massacre, and displacement of
America’s Native American population. To this, the imperialist powers declare,
“Yes, you are.”
The
open embrace of genocide against the Palestinians comes as the United States is
ever more directly involved in the war. On Tuesday, the Pentagon ordered 2,000
troops to be on alert for potential deployment to the Middle East. It also
announced that the USS Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, including 2,400 Marines,
would be deployed to the region, alongside two US aircraft carriers. The US
military is targeting not only the Palestinians, but also creating the
conditions for war with Iran.
The
conflict that is taking place can only be understood in the context of the
eruption of global militarism by the United States targeting Russia and China.
The US war with Russia in Ukraine is now spreading into a global conflagration
and developing into a regional war in the Middle East.
The
Washington Post reported that the Biden administration has called for turning a
$20 billion bill to arm Ukraine into a massive $100 billion spending package
for the wars in Ukraine, the Middle East and the Pacific.
All
the lies used to justify the war in Ukraine are exploded by Israel’s genocide
against the Palestinians. The US government has claimed that it is supporting
“national sovereignty” against Russian aggression, that Russia was carrying out
“war crimes,” even “genocide”—now all the imperialist powers are openly
supporting what are in fact genocidal actions. Even if one were to accept all
the lying propaganda of the American media in relation to Russian actions in
Ukraine, it pales in comparison to what Israel is now doing before the eyes of
the whole world.
Millions
of people have poured onto the streets to denounce what is happening in real
time. The sentiment of the broad mass of the people, despite all the lies,
propaganda and intimidation, is on the side of the Palestinians. These protests
must be expanded to encompass ever broader layers of workers and youth. They
should be connected to the developing strike wave of workers in the United
States and internationally against exploitation.
On
Monday, a group of Palestinian trade unions called on workers throughout the
world to support their strike:
“As
Israel escalates its military campaign, Palestinian trade unions call on our
counterparts internationally and all people of conscience to end all forms of
complicity with Israel’s war crimes, most urgently halting the arms trade with
Israel, as well as all funding and military research.”
It
continued:
“This
urgent, genocidal situation can only be prevented by a massive increase in
global solidarity with the people of Palestine and that can restrain the
Israeli war machine. We need you to take immediate action, wherever you are in
the world, to prevent the arming of the Israeli state.”
The
World Socialist Web Site endorses the call by Palestinian trade unions. Beyond
that, we call on workers throughout the world to take strike action to deprive
Israel of all resources that can be utilized in its war. Dockworkers, airport
and transport workers all over the world should refuse to handle any weapons
directed toward Israel.
Workers
must demand an immediate halt to the Israeli bombing of Gaza and the
demobilization of all Israeli troops and their withdrawal from the border with
Gaza. The siege on Gaza must be ended, and food, water, electricity, medical
care and all other necessities must be made available immediately.
The
International Criminal Court must initiate proceedings against Netanyahu,
Scholz, Biden and all the leading figures in the US-NATO axis who are
supporting the Israeli genocide against Gaza.
It
is only through the intervention of masses of workers and youth throughout the
world that this unfolding genocide can be stopped and those responsible be held
to account.
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