Gaza: The Holocaust Continues
By One Democratic State Group
17 April,
2008
Countercurrents.org
The latest Israeli war crimes in the besieged Gaza Strip have resulted in the brutal killings of 21 Palestinians, including 6 children, within the last 12 hours. More than 40 have been injured. Fadel Shanaa, a Reuters cameraman, was amongst the dead. His visibly marked car was targeted by an Israeli missile in an attempt to cover up crimes committed in day light. The areas targeted are Shijaeyah, Beit lahia, and Bureij refugee camp. Al-Salam Mosque in Shejeyah was demolished; Al-Wafa hospital was rampaged; and houses were set on fire. In Juhr El Dik, eastern of Bureij, a group of civilians, including children, was targeted by an Apache helicopter. 14 of them died on the spot.
This comes as the number of terminally ill patients who have died as a result of the imposed heinous siege has reached 135. The latest victims today were two toddlers from the Nusairat camp. The Israeli authorities denied both of them permits to be treated in the West Bank and Jordan.
As 85 per cent of all transport in Gaza has come to a stand still due to shortages in fuel, and as universities and schools have shut down, the people of Gaza are bracing themselves for worse days to come. Israel seems to get the wrong message, not only from the international community, but also from the Arab world as well. Its Foreign Minister is being welcomed as a hero in Doha, while Jimmy Carter is denied entry into the besieged Gaza Strip. With this international conspiracy of silence and the complicity of the UN and EU, the people of Gaza are left alone to face the ongoing Holocaust. All warnings and photos of dead bodies of children and women seem to have failed so far in making the Arab and Islamic worlds translate their words of support into action. We ask: what is needed more than the photage of Mohammed Burai and the toddlers of Nusairat to convince the Arab world to break this unprecedented, medieval siege? Has the existence of Palestinians become a burden, not only on Israel, but also on the Arab World? Are Palestinians, especially Gazans, left with the option of surrendering, or dying like cockroaches?
This slow-motion
genocide must come to an end now before Gaza explodes.
