December 18, 2023
In
the midst of Netanyahu’s annihilation of innocent Palestinian civilians in
Gaza, many of them children, women and the elderly, there is a rising urgency
from many Israeli and domestic Jewish groups for an immediate ceasefire and
greatly increasing the flow of humanitarian aid.
In
the U.S. Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now have vigorously engaged in
public non-violent civil disobedience – an American tradition – to challenge
the inhumane unconditional co-belligerency by Congress and Joe Biden of the
present extremist regime’s genocidal destruction of Palestinians. Many U.S.
Jewish Americans are standing tall either individually or in groups to exclaim
“not in our name” to the U.S.-funded civilian slaughter in Gaza.
A
most remarkable, little-noticed open letter to President Joe Biden appeared in
December 13, 2023, New York Times,paid for by the legendary Israeli human
rights organization B’Tselem and signed by 16 other Israeli peace, human
rights, veterans and religious associations. (See the letter here).
Titled
“The Humanitarian Catastrophe in the Gaza Strip,” the letter condemns the Hamas
“horrific and criminal attack on Israeli civilians” and demands the release of
the Israelis in Gaza. What follows are excerpts from their message to the White
House:
“Since
the war began, Israel’s policy has driven the humanitarian crisis in Gaza to
the point of catastrophe – not only as an inevitable outcome of war. As part of
this policy, soon after the fighting began, Israel stopped selling Gaza
electricity and water, closed its crossings and blocked all entry of food,
water, fuel and medicine.”
Citing
international law and committed war crimes, the signers continue:
“UN
agencies and humanitarian organizations report that the situation in Gaza is
catastrophic and they have almost no way left to help the population. The few
truckloads that are allowed in – a drop in the ocean, according to the reports
– cannot be distributed due to the ongoing bombardments, the destruction of
infrastructure and restrictions imposed by Israel. This leaves more than two
million people hungry and thirsty, without access to proper medical care, and
with infectious diseases spreading due to unhygienic overcrowding and lack of
water. This inconceivable reality grows worse by the day.”
“You
[Biden] have the power to influence our government to change its policy and
allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, in accordance with Israel’s legal obligations
….”
“We
are in the final throes of an emergency. Many deaths can still be prevented.
Israel must change its policy now.”
The
estimated death toll in Gaza at “more than 18,000” is a gross undercount. Well
over ten times more children in Gaza have been killed in nine weeks than the
number of children lost in the Russian war on Ukraine over nearly 22 months. In
addition to the unprecedented intense bombing, large numbers of Palestinian
infants, children, women, the infirmed, and disabled are homeless, facing the
elements, dying by the minute from the homicidal conditions described by these
Israeli human rights groups, journalists, and recorded by U.S. drones above
Gaza.
Being
reduced to rubble, Gaza has no fire trucks or water to put out spreading fires.
The Israeli military has destroyed or rendered the vast majority of hospitals
and health clinics inoperative. UN relief agencies are shelled and have seen
over 130 of their staff slain.
The
Israeli war machine has also taken the lives of over 60 Palestinian journalists
(many with their families), including three Israeli reporters. Consistent with
its long-time exclusion of outside journalists, the Israeli government doesn’t
want the world to see and hear from unembedded, mainstream Israeli or foreign
journalists.
Day
after deadly day, President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken and Secretary of
Defense Austin used words to urge minimizing Palestinian casualties while they
deploy deeds of massive shipments of bombs, missiles and UN vetoes. Small
wonder our government officials are having little restraining influence. The
Israeli Air Force even bombs and contaminates the small agricultural areas
destroying olive groves and fields growing grain, vegetable and fruit crops. It
is even against Israeli law for Palestinians to collect rainwater which is
decreed to be the property of the state.
Pope
Francis, long a protector of Jewish rights when he was a cleric in Argentina,
called Israeli President Isaac Herzog to express his deep concern about the
plight of the Palestinians, saying that “it is forbidden to respond to terror
with terror.” The Vatican reported that the Holy Father is in constant touch
with the “Christian Church” in Gaza and the West Bank. For decades, Christians
in the West Bank have been harassed, discriminated against and encroached upon
(e.g., Bethlehem) with little media coverage, except for the courageous Israeli
newspaper Haaretz.
Oblivious
to world opinion, including that of our allies, Biden and the Democrats are
pushing for another $14.3 billion in U.S. taxpayer monies to further annihilate
the defenseless, now homeless, human beings in Gaza, screaming in pain and
fear, sick, starving and dying, unable to bury their kin. Rotting corpses are
piling up, and being eaten by stray dogs.
Meanwhile,
people in the U.S. who speak out for stopping this brutality are charged with
being “antisemitic” – a grotesque cheapening and misuse of a word that was used
to describe the savage Russian pogroms and Nazi horrors of extermination.
Silencing peaceful criticism with this slander is a conscious tactic. Note the
statement by Shulamit Aloni, a former Minister of Education and winner of the
Israel Prize:
“It’s
a trick. We always use it. When from Europe, somebody criticizes Israel, we
bring up the Holocaust. When, in the United States, people are critical of
Israel, then they are anti-Semitic.”
It
works all too often. Americans are smeared, being suspended or losing their
jobs, their careers, and their customers because they oppose the carnage in
Gaza. It is a sign of the partisan censorship that incurring such penalties is
not experienced by Americans exclaiming their full support for this genocidal
obliteration of Gaza – a multiple war crime pointed out by both Jewish and
non-Jewish international law scholars here and abroad.
The
least that humane citizens can do is to tell their members of Congress to
demand a permanent ceasefire, the release of the Israeli hostages and the large
number of Palestinian prisoners (children, women and men) in Israeli jails
without charges or due process, and serious movement toward a two-state
solution.
The
switchboard in Congress is 202-224-3121.
Captives mistakenly killed by Israeli troops left SOS signs in
Hebrew
The
killing of the three men sparks an intense outcry in Israel and raises concerns
about its military’s wartime conduct.
December
18, 2023
Israel’s
military says it has discovered distress signals in a Gaza building where three
Israeli captives were sheltering before they were mistakenly shot dead by
Israeli troops.
The
signs, which read “SOS” and “Help, three hostages” in Hebrew, were found in a
building in the Shujayea suburb of Gaza City, military spokesperson Rear
Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Sunday.
The
military distributed photographs of the white cloth signs written in red,
likely with leftover food. They were hung on a building about 200 metres (220
yards) from where the captives were shot last week, Hagari said.
The
killing of the captives, who, Israel’s military said, were fired at despite
waving a white flag, has sparked an outcry in Israel and amplified concerns
about their military’s wartime conduct.
Ido
Shamriz, brother of slain captive Alon Shamriz, accused the Israeli army of
“abandoning” and then “murdering” him.
Ruby
Chen, father of a 19-year-old captive and soldier still held in Gaza, said the
incident made him even more fearful of his son’s fate.
“We
feel like we’re in a Russian roulette game [finding out] who will be next in
line to be told the death of their loved one,” Chen said.
The
captives’ deaths also added to Israeli concerns that their government and
military are more focused on eliminating Hamas than rescuing at least 100
captives believed still to be in captivity in Gaza.
Hamas
last month said about 60 captives had been killed or were missing due to the
Israeli bombardment. Israel has confirmed at least 20 captives have died in
Gaza, without saying how it knows this information.
On
Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted that new
negotiations may be under way to recover captives after his intelligence chief
met the prime minister of Qatar, a mediator in the conflict.
However,
Hamas has said it will not release any more captives until the war ends.
Where
are the captives?
Israel
believes some of the captives may be trapped in Hamas’s sprawling underground
tunnel network, complicating the Israeli military’s efforts to root out the
group.
On
Sunday, Israel’s military announced it had uncovered the largest tunnel it had
ever seen in Gaza and promised to search through more tunnels in its pursuit of
Hamas.
“We
will hunt them even if we need to go down to the tunnels,” Hagari said. “We
also need to do it with attention to the rescue of our hostages and the
understanding that maybe some of them are in the tunnels.”
The
newly discovered Hamas tunnel has an entrance near a key Israeli border
crossing, raising additional questions about security failures leading up to
the group’s October 7 attacks on southern Israel.
The
expansive tunnel, equipped with ventilation and electricity, is twice the
height and three times the width of other Gaza tunnels, Israeli officials said.
It stretches for more than 4km (2.5 miles) and dives 50 meters (55 yards) below
ground at some points.
“Millions
of dollars were invested in this tunnel,” Hagari said on Sunday.
“It
took years to build. … Vehicles could drive through,” he added. “At this point,
this is the biggest tunnel in Gaza.”
Nir
Dinar, another Israeli military spokesperson, said Israel had previously failed
to spot the tunnel because its border defences detect only tunnels meant to
enter Israel.
Israeli
officials believed Hamas used the tunnel to move vehicles, fighters and
supplies ahead of its October 7 attacks, which killed about 1,200 people, they
say.
In
retaliation for that attack, Israel has bombed the besieged Gaza Strip for two
and a half months and launched a ground invasion, killing more than 19,000
Palestinians, mostly women and children, and reducing much of the enclave to
ruins.
Jewish Demonstrators
Block Bridges in 8 U.S. Cities to Demand Ceasefire in Gaza
December 18, 2023
On
Wednesday evening and into the night, hundreds of demonstrators in eight cities
across the U.S. shut down bridges and highways to pressure the Biden
administration and members of Congress into demanding a permanent ceasefire in
Israel’s genocidal siege of Gaza.
Jewish
organizers and their allies gathered in Seattle, Los Angeles, Portland,
Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Chicago. The
coordinated protest effort was organized by leaders from Jewish Voice for
Peace, Jewish Fast For Gaza, IfNotNow and other groups to take place on the
eighth day of Hanukkah, a deeply symbolic decision.
The
groups documented protesters’ actions through several social media posts.
“Tonight
hundreds of Jews + allies shut down the biggest intersection in downtown Boston
for all of rush hour,” said a post on X from IfNotNow. “Until the U.S.
government follows the will of the people and calls for a ceasefire, we have to
keep being impossible to ignore. It’s life and death.”
“The
Twin Cities have joined the nation-wide call from U.S. Jews for a permanent
ceasefire and full Palestinian freedom!” Jewish Voice for Peace said on its
social media, publishing images of the protest on the Franklin Avenue Bridge in
Minneapolis.
Activists
in Portland blocked traffic on the Burnside Bridge, using a giant menorah “to
rekindle their commitment to a liberated Palestine,” Jewish Voice for Peace
wrote in another post.
“On
the last day of Hanukkah, we are rising up to say: CEASEFIRE NOW, Palestinians
should be free,” Jewish Voice for Peace-Atlanta said, posting images of their
protest on the Jackson Street Bridge.
The
acts of civil disobedience led to multiple arrests. More than 30 were arrested
at the Spring Garden Street Bridge in Philadelphia, for example, where around
200 activists had gathered.
“This
is how we celebrate Hanukkah this year. This year means disrupting business as
usual,” Rabbi Alissa Wise, the lead organizer of Rabbis for Ceasefire, said at
that event.
According
to a press release from Jewish Voice for Peace-Chicago, more than 300
demonstrators attended the protest at the Washington Street Bridge in that
city, blocking traffic at the downtown location. Thirteen people were arrested
for taking part in the protest meant to draw attention to Israel’s relentless
attacks on Gaza, which have killed nearly 20,000 Palestinians so far.
The
demonstration in Chicago, organized by a coalition including Jewish Fast for
Gaza, JVP Chicago and IfNotNow Chicago, was aimed at “rededicating” the last
night of Hanukkah to a ceasefire. Participants chanted and sang protest songs
throughout the night, showcasing their opposition to Biden and Congress’s
support for the genocide as the Israeli military kills thousands of
Palestinians each week using weapons provided by the U.S.
“Through
the spiritual language of song, we loudly and clearly say that Jewish values do
not support senseless killing,” said Eli Newell from IfNotNow. “We are here
today to sing and to say, ‘not in our name.'”
Rabbi
Brant Rosen, co-founder of Jewish Fast For Gaza, explained in a statement why
Jewish organizers in the U.S. chose the eighth night of Hanukkah to speak out
against the atrocities that have continued day and night in Gaza since October
7. Said Rosen:
According to the Hanukkah story, the
Maccabees rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem after it had been defiled. By
gathering to light the menorah this Hanukkah we are protesting the defiling of
sacred Jewish tradition and Jewish memory by Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. In
so doing, we are rededicating ourselves to our solidarity with the Palestinian
people — and all oppressed people struggling to be free.
Before
their protest at the bridge, the Chicago protesters held a vigil at Daley
Plaza, rededicating a 31-foot menorah there “to the struggle against Israel’s
genocide, apartheid and occupation of Palestine,” the coalition’s press release
stated.
Demonstrators
also marched to the Boeing Building to demonstrate against that company’s
sending of military weapons to Israel. Participants projected the words
“Permanent Ceasefire Now” onto the side of the Boeing building.
“We
are specifically calling out Boeing for profiting off weapons that are — at
this very moment — being used by the Israeli military to kill and maim
Palestinians in Gaza,” Rosen told Truthout. “According to Amnesty
International, Boeing weapons have destroyed entire families. As Americans,
their blood is on our hands. As American Jews, our Hanukkah protest is a
collective call to action and conscience: ‘Not in our name!'”
Aaron
Niederman, an organizer with IfNotNow-Chicago, spoke to Truthout about his
experience during the demonstration in the Windy City.
“Today
was a day filled with mixed emotions. It’s the eighth night of Hanukkah and
typically a time that is spent with family celebrating, giving gifts and eating
fried foods. Instead, I joined a larger community of Jews demonstrating for a
ceasefire,” Niederman said.
Niederman
elaborated:
The program’s tone was a mix of somber
mourning for the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost, anger for the continued
devastation in Gaza funded by the US government, and some celebration as we
joined together in song with children and families present. We then took to the
streets, marching to Boeing’s offices. We chanted “Let Gaza live” and
“Ceasefire now” as we proceeded along the sidewalk. I felt nervous,
anticipating the direct action to follow, but comforted by familiar faces
around me and knowledge of how much organizing there was to put this all
together.
“After
being involved in the planning of the action and seeing it come to fruition, I
felt proud of the execution and happy to rededicate the holiday to such a
worthy cause — advocacy for a lasting ceasefire, the end of U.S. support for
Israeli occupation and apartheid, and equality, justice, and a thriving future
for all Palestinians and Israelis,” he added.
Israeli Public Pressures Netanyahu for Ceasefire after Hostages
Killed: But will He Say ‘No’?
December
18, 2023
The
mistaken killing of three Israeli hostages by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)
at the weekend has substantially increased pressure on Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire in the war against Hamas.
The
Biden administration is exerting maximum pressure to convince the Israeli
government that the downsides of its prosecution of the war, particularly the
shockingly high Palestinian civilian death toll, now outweigh the potential
gains.
During
a visit to Israel earlier this month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told
Netanyahu and his cabinet they would have to end the offensive by the new year.
National
Security Advisor Jake Sullivan visited Israel on the weekend to deliver the
same message, emphasising that the US wanted to see results on its demands to
Israel to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza.
Defence
Secretary Lloyd Austin is currently on a trip to the Middle East, including a
stopover in Israel to discuss the “eventual cessation of high-intensity ground
operations and air strikes”.
Earlier
in the month, Austin warned that Israel’s killing of Palestinian civilians
risked driving them into the arms of the enemy – replacing “a tactical victory
with a strategic defeat”.
Finally
President Joe Biden, who won enormous kudos in Israel for his visit in the
immediate aftermath of the Hamas attacks on October 7, has publicly warned that
Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” of Gaza is losing it international support.
The
US, if not Israel (which regards the UN as biased against it) will be concerned
at the UN General Assembly vote on December 12 demanding a ceasefire. Though
the resolution is non-enforceable, the large majority – 153 of the 190 members
– was a clear indication of growing international opposition to the war.
The
majority in favour of a similar resolution in October was 120. The US stood out
as the only UN Security Council member to vote against the December resolution.
Israeli
forces credibility reduced
To
underline these messages, a leaked US intelligence assessment has claimed
40-45% of the 29,000 air-to-surface ground munitions Israel has used in Gaza
have been “dumb” (unguided) bombs. This disclosure effectively undercuts the
Israel Defense Force’s claim that its strikes have been only at proven Hamas
targets.
Details
of the accidental killing of the three hostages, as they have emerged at the
weekend, further reduce the credibility of the Israeli forces’ claims to be
operating with full regard to international humanitarian law. The three were
holding a white cloth, had their hands in the air and were calling to the
soldiers in Hebrew.
An
Israeli Defense Force official has said the case was “against our rules of
engagement” and an investigation was happening at the “highest level”.
The
tragedy has given renewed impetus to the campaign by families of the more than
100 remaining hostages and their numerous supporters. They want the government
to prioritise negotiations for the release of the captives over the war against
Hamas. Demonstrations took place in Tel Aviv after news of the three hostages’
deaths.
So
far Netanyahu and his Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, are holding firm that the
operation to destroy Hamas must continue. Gallant has said that only intense
military pressure on Hamas will create conditions for release of more hostages.
Netanyahu
likely to continue the conflict
Netanyahu
has a number of reasons for continuing the war.
In
the inevitable postwar inquiry into the security lapses that led to the
horrific Hamas attack on October 7, major blame is certain be laid on him. That
inquiry won’t be held while the war proceeds.
But
Netanyahu will be aware that his only chance of avoiding the sort of withering
criticism that would force him from office is to make good on his pledge to
totally eliminate Hamas, and to find and recover the remaining hostages. That
will take much more time than Biden seems willing to allow him.
Unfortunately
for Netanyahu, he cannot yet claim victory on the basis of decapitating the
Hamas leadership. The movement’s political ruler in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, and its
military leader, Mohammed Deif, are still at large. They’re probably somewhere
in the vast tunnel network beneath Gaza. If Israel were to capture or kill
these two, Netanyahu would be able to claim substantial vindication.
The
Biden administration’s pressure is of less concern to Netanyahu. He is
practised at staring down US presidents, particularly Democratic ones. In 2009
he defied President Barack Obama’s call for a freeze on settlement building in
the West Bank.
In
2015 he even breached protocol by accepting a Republican invitation to visit
Washington to address a joint sitting of Congress without calling on Obama.
Within
Israel, Netanyahu is helped by the fact that Israelis have only a partial
picture of the human toll their country’s campaign is having on Palestinian
civilians.
The
ABC Global Affairs Editor, John Lyons, who was based in Jerusalem for many
years and understands Hebrew, reported after a recent visit to Israel:
[…] most Israelis do not see pictures (on
their televisions) of injured Palestinian women and children or the destruction
of Gaza into kilometre after kilometre of rubble […] Israelis are watching a
sanitised war […] They are bewildered at why the world is increasingly
uncomfortable at the high civilian casualty rate.
Resumption
of hostage negotiations
That
said, Netanyahu has bowed to the hostages lobby by reversing a decision that
the head of Mossad, David Barnea, should cease negotiations in Qatar for more
hostage releases. Barnea met Qatar’s prime minister in Europe last week. No
details were available at time of writing.
But
Hamas continues to make demands that Israel would find hard to accept: no
further hostage releases until the war ends; and insistence that a deal would
involve release of large numbers of Palestinian prisoners, including
high-profile militants.
In
the background, a worry for both Israel and the US is that support for Hamas
has risen substantially in the West Bank since the war started.
Polling
between November 22 and December 2 by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and
Survey Research indicated that backing for Hamas had risen from 12% in
September to 44% at the beginning of December. This is shown also in the number
of green Hamas flags in evidence when Palestinian prisoners were freed during
the pauses in fighting in late November.
The
polling even showed that support for Hamas in Gaza over the same period had
risen from 38% to 42%.
Netanyahu
may get lucky if his forces find Sinwar and Deif. In the meantime, a decision
on continuation of the war rests with him.
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