October 25, 2024
When writer and
disability justice activist Alice Wong received a MacArthur Fellowship earlier
this month, she shared a statement about accepting it “amidst the genocide
happening in Gaza.” The backlash was swift, with a deluge of posts on X
attacking Wong’s character and accusing her of antisemitism.
A
culture that demands certain political allegiances from its writers and
artists at the risk of losing career opportunities is one that is
antithetical to democratic values.Westend61 via Getty
This conflation
of opposition to Israel’s military action with hatred of Jewish people is only
one part of a broader wave of political and social repression that is
attempting to silence writers speaking out against the war. In the past month
alone, authors who have criticized Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza — which
is funded largely by the U.S. — have been labeled extremists, been suspended
and fired from faculty jobs, and targets of defamation and harassment.
I had my own
recent experience with the latter following an incident with the New York State
Writers Institute’s Albany Book Festival. I reached out privately to the
festival organizers in support of a fellow author, Aisha Abdel Gawad,
expressing concern about the public rhetoric of the moderator with whom we were
to share a panel. In social media posts and published articles, the moderator
mocked people who advocate for a ceasefire by calling them “terror apologists”
and other names. Such rhetoric seemed disturbing in its mischaracterization of
those mourning the loss of life, including Palestinian lives. In response, the
assistant director of the Writers Institute emailed the moderator calling our
concerns “crazy,” going so far as to fabricate a story that I refused “to be on
a panel with a ‘Zionist,’” a message that was then made public. This resulted
in death and rape threats, harassing messages and the loss of professional
opportunities for me and Abdel Gawad.
To set the
record straight, I neither refused to be on the panel nor used the word
“Zionist,” but this clarification, while necessary, is not the point. The
implication is that vitriol directed at those opposing war and genocide is
acceptable; objecting to such vitriol is not.
Many of us who
have spoken out against Israel’s war on Gaza have not only opposed the war, but
also drawn connections between the violence there and other interlocking
crises: mass death and displacement in Sudan, the Congo and Haiti; the
disparity between U.S. military funding for war and funding for escalating
climate catastrophes; the expansion of carceral systems, including surveillance
and militarization of policing; and the increased criminalization of dissent
following the racial justice protests in 2020, quelling connections between the
global and the domestic. Suppression of dissent also suppresses connections
between people and communities in a time of organized abandonment, a time when
we need each other even more.
For writers,
censorship and suppression is also taking place within notable arts
institutions. PEN America — which canceled its 2024 annual awards this spring
after nearly half the nominees withdrew their books from consideration due to
the organization’s response to Israel’s war on Gaza — is now asking publishers
to confirm with authors that they want their books to be considered for the
2025 awards, ostensibly to avoid finalists again withdrawing in protest and to
circumvent a writers’ boycott of the organization. Canada’s Giller Prize, which
was plagued by protests and withdrawals over its primary sponsor’s financial
investment in Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems, has made confirmation of
intent to participate in the awards — attempting to ensure that finalists will
not decline the prize or use the opportunity to speak out about Palestine — a
requirement for author eligibility.
To pressure
authors to remain silent about institutional response to war in order to be
eligible for prestigious literary prizes is not only ironic — PEN America’s
mission, for instance, is to protect freedom of expression — but sinister. A
culture that demands certain political allegiances from its writers and artists
at the risk of losing career opportunities is one that is antithetical to
democratic values, and harkens back to the McCarthy-era Hollywood blacklist
that barred writers from employment on suspicions of “subversive” and
“un-American” leanings.
In many of the
attacks I received, the senders referenced my race in their threats, suggesting
I should shut up or meet with physical violence. Yet I, too, have my own stake
in speaking out against war and occupation. I was born in the U.S., in part
because, like so many children of immigrants, of U.S. military presence in my
ancestors’ home country — the Philippines, a former U.S. colony. My parents
immigrated during a period of martial law, led by U.S.-supported dictator
Ferdinand Marcos, who imprisoned and disappeared thousands of journalists,
writers and editors. Marcos’s son, now currently president, recently expanded
U.S. military access to Philippines bases.
Much of my
writing has explored the ways in which Asian assimilation in the U.S. is
negotiated, including our complicity in U.S. imperialism: As Viet Thanh Nguyen
writes, “The condition of our belonging, our inclusion, is our silence.”
Advocates against anti-Asian violence focus on very real problems of
harassment, bullying and discrimination, but stop short of extending the
connections globally to include the violence of the U.S. “forever wars” in
Asia, Africa and the Middle East. To be Asian American is to carry this
dissonance, as our Americanness hinges on our acceptance of the violence
carried out in our names and against our people. It hinges on our obedience,
our gratitude.
I’m a novelist.
I study and teach the craft of writing stories. I can trace how storytelling
has been used to vilify in order to legitimize violence — including the recent
framing of immigration as a “border crisis,” insidious misinformation about
Haitian Americans and transgender people, and references to Palestinians as
“human animals.”
Although stories
can be used to inflict suffering, the opposite is also true. Writers choose our
words for clarity and truth, to build love and solidarity. Failing to do so can
harden our hearts, making us more susceptible to justifying harm done to others.
And by dehumanizing others, we also harm ourselves. It is our ability to create
connections — and the power of these connections — that makes writers a target
for repression, and why it’s critical to withstand it. Our belonging is not
contingent on our silence; our humanity is contingent on breaking it.
Qassam Muaddi
PEOPLE MAKE THEIR WAY AMID THE RUBBLE OF
BUILDINGS DESTROYED DURING ISRAELI BOMBARDMENT OF THE THE JABALIA
REFUGEE ON AUGUST 31, 2024. (PHOTO: HADI DAOUD / APA IMAGES)
Tens of thousands of displaced
Palestinians across northern Gaza have been forced on a death march by the
Israeli army since Monday, October 21. Northern Gaza is being emptied of its
inhabitants, and one of Israel’s strategies in achieving this goal is to take
out the area’s few remaining social institutions: hospitals.
As part of its ongoing offensive on
northern Gaza, the Israeli army has been trying to clear out the entire area
north of Gaza City for the past 18 days. At least 200,000 people continue to
stay there, many of them fearing, according to local testimonies, that they
will be targeted on the way south or in Israeli-designated “safe zones,” which
have been consistently bombarded over recent months. The ongoing siege includes
a second siege-within-the-siege on the Jabalia refugee camp, accompanied by a
massive bombing and shelling campaign that is forcing tens of thousands of
people to leave their homes. Many of them have headed to Beit Lahia, and
particularly to Kamal Adwan Hospital. Over the past 18 days, the hospital has
been issuing daily calls for help, warning of an imminent humanitarian
catastrophe.
The Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit
Lahia is one of three functioning hospitals in the northern Gaza governorate.
The hospital is the only fully functional medical center in the north, with a
specialized neonatal section for newborns.
The two other hospitals in Gaza are
barely functional. The Indonesian Hospital in the town of Sheikh Zayed went out
of services last week after Israeli troops besieged it and invaded its
surroundings. Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia, smaller in size, has suspended most
of its services and only functions at a limited capacity. On Tuesday, October
22, the al-Awda Hospital’s director, Bakr Abu Safiyeh, told al-Ghad TV that
Israeli quadcopter drones were opening fire directly on the hospital.
Dr. Baker said that Israeli
quadcopters were also opening fire on anybody moving in the streets, including
ambulances. According to the hospital director, an Israeli strike targeted an
ambulance carrying a mother who had just given birth. The mother was killed,
Dr. Baker said, and the baby was later found alive by rescue teams and was
taken to Kamal Adwan Hospital’s neonatal section.
Why targeting hospitals is the key
to emptying northern Gaza
Named after Kamal Adwan, a
Palestinian resistance leader assassinated by Israel in Beirut in 1973, the
hospital has become a central destination for the wounded and the displaced.
Like most other hospitals in Gaza over the past year of genocidal war, Kamal
Adwan Hospital is the only remaining public space in northern Gaza that offers
services and provides shelter, representing the backbone of Gazan civil society
and social cohesion. That is why Israel is targeting it, with the aim of
forcibly expelling the population in service of the Israeli plan to empty the
north. This has now come to be called “the Generals’ Plan.”
Two weeks before Israel began the
current siege, Netanyahu told Israeli lawmakers that he was considering the
“Generals’ plan,” so named for the proposal put forward by senior Israeli army
officials in early September based on the vision of retired Israeli general
Giora Eiland, who wrote an Op-Ed a year ago explaining how northern Gaza should
be emptied of the entire population through mass starvation and extermination.
The plan is an enhanced version of
what Israel has already been doing for the past year, including targeting and
forcibly evacuating hospitals. Israeli forces raided al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza
City for the first time in November, when the compound and its surroundings
were crowded with displaced families, and forced medics, patients, and
displaced people to leave. But in February, when Israeli forces began to
withdraw from parts of Gaza, including Gaza City, Palestinians returned to
al-Shifa and began to operate parts of it again as displaced families began to
take over its spaces once more.
Then, in April, Israeli forces
invaded al-Shifa a second time in a raid that lasted several weeks with the
purpose of accelerating social collapse in Gaza City. The Israeli army combed
the hospital building by building and floor by floor, destroying equipment and,
according to survivor testimonies gathered by Mondoweiss at the time, executing
hundreds of civil government employees and separating people into
differently-colored bracelet. At the end of the operation, Dr. Marwan Abu
Saada, Deputy Director of al-Shifa, told UN News that the destruction of
al-Shifa “took out the heart of the health system in the Gaza Strip,” adding
that “al-Shifa is finished forever.”
In December 2023, two months into
the Israeli genocide in Gaza, Israeli forces raided the Kamal Adwan hospital
and forced medical staff, patients, and displaced civilians to evacuate. The
hospital resumed partial services in July after joint efforts by the World
Health Organization and other international parties, coupled with pressure on
Israel to allow limited quantities of humanitarian aid into the north.
As Israel set its eyes on Gaza’s
northernmost governorate to execute Eiland’s plan, Kamal Adwan Hospital is now
the last bastion of Palestinian steadfastness in the north. This makes it a
prime target in the ongoing Israeli offensive. Kamal Adwan came close to
completely shutting down multiple times, mainly due to the lack of fuel for
power generators, saved every time by intensified pressure by international
parties on Israel to allow limited quantities of fuel to pass through
Kamal Adwan Hospital weathers siege
and overcapacity
“We need blood units, shrouds for
the dead, doctors, and food,” Dr. Husam Abu Safiyeh, director of Kamal Adwan
hospital, told the media on Wednesday, October 23, signaling that Israeli
forces had cut off internet services from the area.
The day before, on October 22, Dr.
Abu Safiyeh told the media that the hospital had run out of blood units, had a
shortage of medical staff, that the available staff was hungry and exhausted,
and that the power generators were about to run out of fuel.
Dr. Abu Safiyeh also indicated that
the hospital was treating 130 wounded, including 14 on ventilators, and that
medics were unable to evacuate the wounded from the streets because of the risk
of being targeted by Israeli quadcopter fire. He also called upon international
entities to open a humanitarian route to evacuate the wounded, and described
his hospital as “a mass grave.”
A week earlier, on October 16, Dr.
Abu Safiyeh posted a video he took inside the Kamal Adwan Hospital’s newborn
children’s section. The video showed babies inside incubators and Palestinian
nurses caring for them. “These are children with difficult cases, and more
cases are on the way, as we have scheduled cesarean births for tomorrow,” he
said while filming.
“This baby girl here arrived after
her family was targeted by [an Israeli] strike,” said Abu Safiyeh while filming
one particular newborn. “Her mother and father were martyred, as well as her
grandmother, and she is now alone with a wound to the head and a secondary
inflammation,” he explained. “If fuel doesn’t arrive [for power generators]
there will be a humanitarian catastrophe for these children,” he warned.
In the hospital’s sections, the
medical staff described their working conditions. “There are cases of burning,
internal bleeding, skull fractures, and limb amputations,” Dr. Ameen Abu
Amshah, serving at Kamal Adwan, told Mondoweiss. “Out of every 10 to 15 wounded
we receive at once, an average of seven are urgent cases for surgery. We just
don’t have the capacity for all this, and we are forced to prioritize the cases
that can be saved” said Dr. Abu Amshah.
“The occupation army has been
ordering doctors to leave, including through phone calls,” said Abu Amshah.
This is an extermination. Northern Gaza is being exterminated, Jabalia is
being exterminated, and Kamal Adwan hospital is being exterminated, but we will
not leave.
Forced death march
On Tuesday, October 23, Israeli
drones dropped leaflets and aired voice messages at Palestinians who remained
in the surroundings of Kamal Adwan and inside its premises, ordering them to
leave. Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians were being gathered and forced to
move out of other shelters after arresting men among them. Thousands were left
stranded in the street far away from the last standing public facilities and
forced to take the road yet again at gunpoint, as shown by footage aired by the
Israeli army.
Dr. Abu Amshah at Kamal Adwan,
however, told Mondoweiss that he knows one thing; that despite the lack of
food, exhaustion, the siege, and Israeli drones,
we Palestinian doctors will not leave. We will stay for our people.
Jake Johnson
A view of the damage after an Israeli
strike targeted a residential compound where the journalists were
staying in southern Lebanon on October 25, 2024. (Photo: Ramiz Dallah/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The Israeli
military on Friday bombed a residential compound in southern Lebanon housing
more than a dozen reporters from seven Lebanese and international media
outlets, killing three journalists and wounding several others.
"This is a
war crime," Ziad Makary, Lebanon's minister of information, said in the
wake of the attack, which was carried out in the early hours of the morning
while the victims were asleep.
Two Al-Mayadeen
TV said one of its camera operators, Ghassan Najar, and broadcast technician
Mohammed Rida were killed in the Israeli bombing. The other journalist killed
was Wissam Qassim of Al-Manar TV.
Imran Khan, a
senior correspondent for Al Jazeera who was present at the compound at the time
of the Israeli attack, said there was no warning issued ahead of the strike.
"These were
just journalists that were sleeping in bed after long days of covering the
conflict," said Khan.
Photographs and
video footage from the site of the Israeli attack show the ruins of a building
and a destroyed vehicle with a large "press" label on the hood.
"We are
bidding farewell to one colleague after the other due to these Israeli
crimes," Al Jadeed reporter Mohammad Farhat said the aftermath of the
deadly strike.
The Associated
Press reported that "Ali Shoeib, Al-Manar's well-known correspondent in
south Lebanon, was seen in a video filming himself with a cellphone saying that
the camera operator who had been working with him for months was killed."
"Shoeib
said the Israeli military knew that the area that was struck housed journalists
of different media organizations," AP added. "Lebanon's Health
Minister said Friday that 11 journalists have been killed and eight wounded
since exchanges of fire began along the Lebanon-Israel border in early October
2023."
The Committee to
Protect Journalists, a group that has been tracking Israel's attacks on
journalists in Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank, said Friday that it
"strongly condemns Israel's killing of three journalists in southern
Lebanon earlier today."
"The
international community must act to stop Israel's long-standing pattern of
impunity in journalist killings," the group said.
The Israeli
attack on journalists in southern Lebanon came days after Israel's military
accused six Gaza-based Al Jazeera reporters of being fighters in Hamas and
Palestinian Islamic Jihad—a claim the Qatar-based outlet forcefully denied and
condemned as "a blatant attempt to silence the few remaining journalists
in the region, thereby obscuring the harsh realities of the war from audiences
worldwide."
"These
baseless claims follow Al Jazeera's recent exposé of potential war crimes
committed by Israeli forces during the ongoing war on Gaza," the Al
Jazeera Media Network said in a statement Wednesday. "These journalists
have been steadfastly reporting from northern Gaza, with Al Jazeera being the
sole international media presence documenting the unfolding humanitarian crisis
resulting from Israel's siege and bombardment of civilian populations."
"Al Jazeera
calls on the international community to act with the utmost urgency to protect
these journalists' lives and to put an end to Israeli crimes against media
professionals. The network reaffirms its commitment to delivering accurate,
impartial reporting from conflict zones, despite the grave risks and baseless
accusations faced by its journalists," the outlet continued. "Al
Jazeera stands firm in its belief that journalism is not a crime, and we will
continue to bring the truth to light, no matter what obstacles or threats we
face."
Maha Hussaini and Mohammed al-Hajjar
Drone image shows displaced people in Jabalia, 21 October 2024 (Avichay Adraee via X/via Reuters)
For three weeks, Muhammed Krayem and
his family could barely find anything to eat as they endured a suffocating
siege in northern Gaza, where the Israeli army continues what residents call an
"ethnic cleansing" of the area.
When one of their neighbours
attempted to reach a school in search of canned food, he was shot directly in
the leg by the Israeli army and left to bleed for over two hours while soldiers
prevented anyone from approaching him.
Krayem, 38, recounts to Middle East
Eye a harrowing journey of multiple forced displacements and relentless attacks
along the way, which left him and all his family members wounded before they
were forced out of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip.
On Monday, Krayem was in the area of
the Yemen al-Saeed Hospital when a quadcopter appeared and began telling
everyone to head to the southern Gaza Strip.
"We left around 2pm and there
were around 18 children with me," he recalled. "On our way, we tried
to cross from Yemen Hospital, but a quadcopter attacked us with a direct bomb.
"A young man saw the bomb being
dropped and started shouting, 'They dropped a bomb!' so we fled, and then they
dropped another one about 10 metres away from us. Four of us were wounded, one
around 50 years old shot in the back, and a child about 12 years old hit with
shrapnel in his chest.
"Throughout the journey, the
quadcopters were firing at us, and shrapnel was everywhere."
Along the way, Krayem and his
neighbours found a medical point in the Abu Hussein School area in Jabalia.
They had hoped to treat the wounded there, but they retreated upon seeing the
bodies of victims surrounding the site.
"They were lying around on the
ground; the medical teams were either not there or unable to even move to
evacuate them," he said.
"We went to a flat of a
relative in the middle of the Beit Lahiya Project area and stayed there. We
hadn’t slept for about three days due to the shelling, explosions,
booby-trapped robots and the smell of death everywhere. On the morning of 22
October, around 4:30am, they bombed a nearby house; in about 10 minutes, they
dropped around six bombs. Around a half an hour later, they bombed the house we
were in."
Krayem said that everyone in the
flat was injured, including him, his wife, sister and relatives, while three
neighbours - a woman, her daughter and an elderly man - were killed. The two
flats above them were completely destroyed, collapsing over the heads of their
residents.
Beatings and interrogations
Wounded and bleeding, they left the
building and ran on foot to Kamal Adwan Hospital.
"We arrived at the hospital,
and not an hour passed before the quadcopters came again and played recordings:
'You are in a dangerous combat zone, and you must head to the Indonesian
Hospital area.' We went there, and along the way, there were countless
soldiers," Krayem recalled.
"We had no food with us, so
after we had stayed for hours, a young man went to a nearby school sheltering
displaced people looking for a can of beans or chickpeas. They shot him
directly in the foot, and he continued to bleed for two hours while they
prevented us from helping him."
The Israeli army then called for all
"war wounded" to come for security checks. According to Krayem, they
detained approximately 80 percent of the men, subjecting them to "beatings
and humiliation".
"Among them was a young man
with a mental disability, they beat him and insulted him, saying, 'Don't act
stupid; you're all the same here," he added.
"There was another young man
wounded in his foot; they forced him to stand on it and shot two bullets
towards him to compel him to stand while he was wounded."
Krayem was then brought to a nearby
mosque where he was interrogated along with dozens of other men.
"A soldier beat me on my back
with his weapon's butt and kicked me while I was already wounded. After that,
they told me to carry a white flag and take around 200 people with me to the
safe area. But there is no safe area in Gaza."
'Torturous journey'
Since 5 October, the Israeli
military has launched a devastating offensive against the northern Gaza Strip,
systematically bombarding homes and residential blocks while imposing a strict
siege on the area.
This attack came after the Israeli
army dropped leaflets declaring a "new phase of war" and ordering
residents to evacuate northern Gaza and move southward.
Abdullah al-Muqayid stayed in the
northern Gaza Strip for 18 days before he was forced out by the Israeli army.
What is Israel's 'Generals' Plan'
and what does it mean for the war on Gaza?
"It was a torturous journey
during the suffocating siege. It was like the Day of Judgment. Every metre,
there was a shell or a missile [dropped on us],” Muqayid, 38, told MEE.
"I left the Jabalia camp for
the Beit Lahiya Project area about a week after the latest assault began. I
stayed there near Kamal Adwan Hospital, and on the 17th day, the army
surrounded the hospital and began calling on us to move toward the Indonesian
Hospital through a checkpoint they had established. They filmed us with
cameras, searched us, humiliated us and insulted us, cursing and swearing at us
the entire time.”
Like all the adult male residents of
northern Gaza, Muqayid was subjected to interrogation at an interrogation
centre established by the Israeli army in a residential square.
He said: "They asked why I
hadn't evacuated since the start of the war. They told us, 'You rejoiced on 7
October; you're all Hamas.' They kept on humiliating us and saying, 'Keep your
eyes on the ground, don't look at me or the soldiers. You're not allowed to
help anyone, even women or children.' One of the soldiers kicked me three times
with his boot."
'You will never return to the north'
After an interrogation that lasted
until sunset, the Israeli army ordered the residents to evacuate to the
southern Gaza Strip. However, reluctant to leave northern Gaza entirely, they
moved to the adjacent Gaza City instead.
"One of the phrases the
soldiers told us was, 'Go south; you will never return to the north. The north
will be ours, and we will build settlements there,'" he said.
"But we came to Gaza City.
Along the way, there was a massive number of soldiers and tanks as far as the
eye could see, as if they were invading a country, not merely civilians and
unarmed individuals. We saw the bodies of martyrs on the ground, with dogs
mauling them."
Muqayid managed to leave Gaza City,
but he had to leave his elderly mother behind.
"She remained in Jabalia; she
cannot leave, she cannot walk such a long distance and face the humiliation and
insults we faced."
Muhammed Owais, a resident of
al-Faluja in Jabalia, spoke of Israeli military barracks set up in the Sheikh
Zayed Towers area, where men are interrogated and tortured by the soldiers.
"On 8 October, two shells hit
our home and quadcopters opened fire at us, forcing us to evacuate to the Abu
Hussein School area. We left the house hoping to return in two days, taking
with us a little food and clothing. But we lived through very difficult days
filled with hunger and thirst for about three weeks," he said.
"On 14 October, we received
news that our five-story house and those of our neighbours were bombed and
demolished. One day later, we witnessed a massacre at the Abu Hussein School,
so we had to evacuate again to the Kamal Adwan area."
Like most of northern Gaza's
residents who were forced out of their homes, Owais and his family stayed in a
relative's home in an adjacent area. But the attacks followed them there.
"Yesterday, a quadcopter
announced that they would bomb the area and that we should evacuate to the
Indonesian Hospital area.
"We moved there, and there were
massive numbers of people; they separated women from men, forced the men into
the Kuwait school, and ordered the women to head towards Salah al-Din Street,
where there was a military checkpoint waiting for them," he said.
"The soldiers made us line up;
every five men stood in front of a camera, and they filmed us. They called out
to whoever they wanted, arresting many people inside the towers. They forced
them to take off their clothes and put on white clothes, tying their hands and
blindfolding them. By sunset, it was very dark, and we were forced to walk
towards Shuja'iyya. There were numerous checkpoints along the way, and the
tanks kicked up dust around us.
"We managed to arrive there,
but there were martyrs and wounded people whom no one could help along the
way."
Jude and Leo
Scarff
Our names are
Jude and Leo and we want to tell you all about our fundraising adventures over
the summer to support the Palestinian people to have access to water, their
fundamental human right.
We have all
watched, hopelessly, for nine whole months as our Palestinian friends endured a
genocide, seeing atrocity after atrocity. Going to marches in London and
protests in Southampton wasn’t enough for us.
We wanted to
take further action and do something more, do anything, to make a difference.
A five kilometre
walk in our local Country Park in Southampton, England, quickly turned into our
Three Peaks Challenge, our Go Fund Me page was setup, and our fundraising began
in July. After a few further practice walks we set out for Mount Snowdon, the
highest mountain in Wales. We pitched our Palestinian flag in the village below
the mountain and took an early bus to the start point.
It was tough
going but we managed to summit in two and a half hours. Jude was exhausted at
the top and needed to sleep. Our Mum and Dad forced Jude to eat before heading
back. My ankles and knees were hurting coming down the mountain so we swam in
an icy cold lake to help ease our muscles. We celebrated raising £1000 pounds
when we got back to camp. It took us 10 hours of walking and 33,000 steps to
complete our first Peak. 
Two weeks later
we set out for Scafell Pike, Lake District, England’s highest mountain. A total
of 12 hours driving there and back was wasted because the weather was terrible.
From the start of the hike we were soaked, could barely see in the fog and stopped
to eat but our warm bodies quickly turned to shivers so we headed down the
mountain, heavy hearted.
Within the same
week, we were back on our way to Scafell Pike. Although it is the smallest of
the Three Peaks, it was probably the hardest so far. Nearing the top of the
mountain Jude rolled his ankle. Mum wanted him to go back because every step
meant it would be harder to get down and the wind was fierce near the summit.
Jude said “No, this is nothing compared to what they are suffering!”
Half an hour
later, we hobbled to the summit, wrapped tightly in our Kufiyahs, holding our
cherished Palestinian flag.
Fluttering.
Freely.
Happy that we
made it. 
We soon realised
we had reached £2000 pounds raised. We had walked another 10 hours and 42,000
steps this time.
We have been
overwhelmed with everyone’s support and generous donations towards the Water
Well for Ahmad’s family and community in Deir-Al-Balah, Central Gaza.
Unfortunately, snow on Ben Nevis made it impossible for us to complete the 3
Peaks, but hopefully we will make it back early next summer. In the meantime we
will find a new challenge to carry on our fundraising.
Thank you for
reading about our adventures, but we want to say that this isn’t really about
us, this isn’t about our adventures, it’s about helping the children of
Palestine, children my age, my brothers age, my baby sisters age, to get clean
and fresh water to survive this genocide.
Please donate
today, anything you can, to help us keep the Water Well operating.
Free, Free
Palestine!
Anis Raiss
On 21 October, Amos Hochstein, born
in Israel in 1973 and once an Israeli tank crewman, returned to Lebanon as a US
envoy, not to protect peace but to redefine it on Tel Aviv’s terms.
The irony is undeniable: Israel,
having lost 28 tanks in almost as many days during its latest invasion attempt,
now sends one of its former tank crew members, not in battle, but in diplomacy
– to achieve through words what military force could not secure: control over
Lebanon through revisions to UN Resolution 1701.
Hochstein’s mission may appear to be
an act of diplomacy, but is it really about fostering peace? Or is he aligning
with Israeli policy to reframe control while eroding Lebanon’s sovereignty? The
diplomatic veneer only thinly conceals the underlying agenda of control.
From Oslo to 1701: Reinterpreting
peace for control
The Israeli playbook of manipulating
peace processes is nothing new. In a 2001 leaked video, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu boasted about his manipulation of the Oslo Accords, using
vague phrases like “military facilities” to tighten Israeli control over
contested areas.
Netanyahu openly stated, “America is
something that you can easily maneuver,” hinting at the ease with which Israeli
influence shapes US diplomacy – a dynamic that is evident today in Hochstein’s
actions.
The Israeli army veteran’s push for
amendments to Resolution 1701 is a clear continuation of this strategy:
advancing the occupation state’s interests under the guise of diplomacy from
Washington. Just as Netanyahu reinterpreted the Oslo Accords to solidify
Israeli control, Hochstein’s proposed changes to 1701 seek to turn it into a
tool for extending Tel Aviv’s influence. This is not diplomacy for peace; it is
diplomacy for power.
1701: Israel’s unfinished battle
Resolution 1701, passed by the UN
Security Council on 11 August 2006, marked a critical point for Israel, which
found itself unable to defeat Hezbollah during the July War despite its
advanced military capabilities.
Brokered by then-US Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice, the ceasefire allowed Israel a face-saving exit under
the guise of diplomacy rather than face a prolonged, unwinnable battle. But the
resolution has since been a point of ongoing contention – one Israel has
repeatedly violated.
One notable violation is Israel’s
continued occupation of Shebaa Farms, which contravenes both Resolution 1701
and the earlier Resolution 425. Hezbollah’s decision to remain armed, often
criticized internationally and in some quarters domestically, becomes a logical
and legally justified response under international law, given Israel’s
occupation of Lebanese land. The ongoing presence of Israeli forces undermines
the very peace that Resolution 1701 aimed to establish.
Tel Aviv’s disregard for the
resolution extends beyond territorial occupation. Since 2013, Israel has
repeatedly violated Lebanese airspace to conduct strikes on Syria, treating
Lebanon’s skies like an unguarded backdoor for foreign interventions.
This belligerent behavior is akin to
a trespasser using a neighbor’s yard to attack another – an act that undermines
Lebanon’s sovereignty entirely. In August 2019, a significant escalation
occurred when Israel launched a drone strike in Beirut, which then-president
Michel Aoun condemned as a “declaration of war.”
Moreover, Israel’s occupation of the
northern part of Ghajar village further violates both the Blue Line and
Resolution 1701. Despite UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces deploying south
of the Litani River, Israel’s persistent refusal to withdraw ensures that peace
remains elusive, leaving Lebanon under the constant threat of Israeli
aggression.
Rewriting 1701
The amendments proposed by Hochstein
to Resolution 1701 reveal Israel’s broader strategy of using international
mechanisms to further its objectives. These changes would extend UNIFIL’s
jurisdiction two kilometers north of the Litani River, allowing international
forces to conduct searches, patrols, and inspections without requiring approval
from Lebanese authorities. These inspections can include searching vehicles,
private properties, and suspected weapons sites.
Effectively, this is a demand for
Lebanon to cede control over its own territory – a clear infringement on its
sovereignty. Under the guise of peacekeeping, this would grant Israel indirect
control over Lebanon’s internal security dynamics, especially since
intelligence for these operations may be influenced by, or even originate from,
Israeli sources.
Eyes on the south
Hochstein’s proposal raises critical
concerns about intelligence oversight: Who will guide these operations, and how
might covert Israeli interests be served? The potential involvement of Israeli
tech companies like Toka, co-founded by former prime minister Ehud Barak, is
telling.
Toka specializes in advanced
surveillance technologies that can hack into and manipulate live or recorded
video feeds from public and private security cameras, including those in ports,
airports, and border crossings.
If Toka’s technology is deployed in
southern Lebanon, it could potentially compromise the very systems used by
UNIFIL. This technology, which leaves no trace, could be exploited to monitor
Hezbollah and Lebanese military movements, all under the guise of international
peacekeeping operations. The consequences would be profound: a complete erosion
of Lebanon’s security, replaced by a surveillance network manipulated by Israel
to serve its own strategic interests.
Israel’s covert surveillance
approach can be seen in how it handles Beirut’s southern suburbs. The infamous
Dahiya Doctrine advocates for overwhelming destruction of civilian areas to
target Hezbollah strongholds, yet Israel seems to avoid fully enacting this
policy – possibly due to its desire to preserve infrastructure that supports
covert operations.
Technologies like Toka’s suggest a
more calculated plan, enabling 24/7 monitoring of Hezbollah-controlled areas
under the Litani River. Armed with precise intelligence, Israel could execute
targeted strikes or assassinations akin to those witnessed during the 2006 war,
turning southern Lebanon into a zone of perpetual surveillance and intermittent
violence – all under the pretense of adhering to Resolution 1701.
Berri’s rejection
Nabih Berri, long-time leader of the
Amal Movement and a staunch ally of Hezbollah, immediately opposed Hochstein’s
proposed amendments. As Speaker of Parliament since 1992, Berri has been a key
figure in resisting Israeli encroachments and defending Lebanese sovereignty.
His longstanding relationship with
Hezbollah and the broader Shia political movement positions him as a critical
figure in Lebanon’s struggle against foreign intervention. Upon receiving
Hochstein’s proposals, Berri recognized them for what they were: an attempt to
undermine Lebanese sovereignty under the guise of enhanced peacekeeping.
While Hochstein framed these
amendments as necessary for stability, Berri’s response was clear: the real
issue is not a lack of oversight but Israel’s continued violations of Lebanese
airspace and territory. As Berri emphasized, any genuine pursuit of peace must
begin with holding Israel accountable for its aggression and ensuring it abides
by existing UN resolutions.
He also announced that “the
consensus among the Lebanese on Resolution 1701 is a rare consensus, and we are
committed to it,” adding, “We reject any amendments to Resolution 1701, whether
by increase or decrease.”
In an interview with Al Arabiya TV,
Berri also stated, “I have been mandated by Hezbollah since 2006, and it agrees
to 1701.”
Resolution 1701, meant to establish
peace, is being reshaped into a surveillance tool – a mechanism for Israel to
achieve what it could not through military means. The use of sophisticated
surveillance technology, the selective enforcement of ceasefire terms, and the
involvement of international forces all serve to undermine Lebanon’s
sovereignty, rendering “peace” a hollow word.
Juan Cole
Ann Arbor
(Informed Comment) – Earlier this month the UN Independent International
Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory issued a report
demanding that Israel, in the words of Commission Chair Navi Pillar,
“Israel must
immediately stop its unprecedented wanton destruction of healthcare facilities
in Gaza. By targeting healthcare facilities, Israel is targeting the right to
health itself with significant long-term detrimental effects on the civilian
population. Children in particular have borne the brunt of these attacks,
suffering both directly and indirectly from the collapse of the health system.”
The Commission
did not say so, but Israeli justifications for attacking hospitals, that they
are terrorism ‘command centers,’ have repeatedly been found to be
unsubstantiated.
The authors say
that the Israeli assault on medical facilities has led to a collapse of the
health care system in Gaza. This collapse has left chronically ill patients
such as diabetics and cancer victims without treatment and led to many deaths.
The report by
the numbers for the first nine months of the Israeli war on Gaza:
* Israeli forces
were responsible for the deaths of 500 medical personnel.
* The Israelis
attacked 113 ambulances and damaged at least 61.
* Israel
conducted 498 assaults on health-care establishments within the Gaza Strip.
* These attacks
resulted in the direct deaths of 747 individuals and injuries to 969 others.
* They had a
negative impact on 110 facilities.
* As of
mid-July, out of the 36 hospitals in Gaza, 20 were entirely out of service, and
only 16 remained partially operational
*These 16 were
experiencing extreme congestion and had a total bed capacity of merely 1,490
(the capacity of one fair-sized hospital of New York; this is for 2.2 million
persons suffering from Israeli attacks for a year now).
* WHO documented
that 78 percent of the Israeli assaults on medical facilities involved the use
of military force.
*35 percent
involved the hindering of access.
*9 percent
included militarized search and detention activities. These attacks were
extensive and systematic.
The authors of
the report assert that the Israeli military conducted air raids on hospitals,
inflicting significant damage on structures and their environs, and causing
numerous casualties. They encircled and laid siege to hospital grounds, stormed
hospitals and apprehended medical personnel and patients, restricted the
delivery of goods and medical supplies, blocked the movement of civilians in
and out, issued expulsion directives but hindered safe evacuations.
Additionally, Israeli security forces repeatedly impeded the access of
humanitarian organizations.
* The Israeli
military killed 19 members of or volunteers for the Palestine Red Crescent
Society and detained and attacked many more. Medical workers expressed their
belief that they had been deliberately targeted by Israeli security forces.
* Hundreds of
healthcare workers, including three hospital directors and the head of an
orthopedic department, as well as patients and journalists, were apprehended by
Israeli security forces at Shifa’, Nasr, and Awdah hospitals during military
operations. In at least two instances, senior medical staff reportedly died
while in Israeli custody.
* Israel was
still holding 128 healthcare workers, including four Palestine Red Crescent
Society staff members, as of last July.
* Israeli
officials approved the medical evacuation from Gaza through Rafah of only 5,857
of 13,872 patients who had applied for it.
* Israeli
officials approved only about half of requests to depart Gaza by cancer
patients.
* In July,
Israel “delayed the evacuation of 150 children from the Gaza Strip in need of
specialized medical treatment.”
It’s bad.
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