Gaza a graveyard for children

Imagine yourself waking up and finding yourself inside that roar of rockets, bombardment and death symphony played by the howling of weeping.

What’s happening in Gaza is nothing short of genocide! Different people and dictionaries have their definitions of the word ‘genocide’.

I would choose Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin’s definition; he coined the word genocide in his book ‘Axis rule in occupied Europe’ published in 1944.

Lemkin defined genocide as the “destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group or groups in a coordinated plan of different actions, aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of life, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. The objectives of such a plan would be disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion and the economic existence of groups, and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity and even the lives of the individuals. Genocide is directed against the groups as an entity and the actions involved are directed against individuals, not in their individual capacity, but as members of a group.”

One can only conclude that the ongoing indiscriminate nonstop Israeli bombardments, airstrikes and ground attacks in Gaza where hospitals, schools and residential areas are not spared, are calculated to cause maximum casualties – including causing mental harm to Palestinian civilians – and planned deterioration of living conditions aimed at bringing about their destruction.

Right now as I am writing my column, there are reports that 39 children in the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza might die because of a severe shortage of oxygen in the midst of bombardments on the hospital and surrounding areas by invading Israeli forces.

The are no signs of any respite despite appeals to the international community for intervention to lift the siege on hospitals and ending the conflict. Though the western world have met on several occasions to find solutions to end the conflict, so far it has been only NO ACTION TALK ONLY! The Israelis are not listening to anyone.

And to make matters worse, the Muslim and Arab nations – apart from their citizens’ worldwide mass protests and beating of their chests – have not been able to speak in one voice, negating an effective solution to the conflict.

A classic example is the Arab League summit last week which faced division over five important resolutions when four countries declined to vote for tough measures against Israel. The summit exposed differences in opinions which led to the rejection of the key resolutions.

Eleven Arab countries proposed and endorsed the resolution, namely Lebanon, Qatar, Algeria, Palestine, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman, Libya, Iraq, Syria and Tunisia. The summit did not disclose the identities of the countries that voted against or abstained. 

The failure of the Arab and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation nations to arrive at a unified stance on crucial issues has rendered the countries ‘ineffective’ to seek solutions for the Gaza conflict and Israeli genocide.

The key resolutions rejected by the four nations according to https://freepresskashmir.news included prohibiting the use of American and other military bases in Arab countries to supply Israel with weapons and ammunition; freezing Arab diplomatic, economic, security and military relations with Israel; threatening to leverage oil and Arab economic capabilities to apply pressure and halt the ongoing aggression; preventing Israeli civil aviation from accessing Arab airspace; and establishing an Arab ministerial committee tasked with immediate travel to New York, Washington, Brussels, Geneva, London and Paris to convey the Arab Summit’s plea to halt Israeli aggression against Gaza.

As of Nov 11, the Palestinian death toll has exceeded 11,000 people since Israel began massive airstrikes and bombardments in retaliation for Hamas’ attacks on Israeli settlements in early October.

According to a child rights organisation, Israeli forces have killed twice as many Palestinian children in Gaza over the past month than the total number of Palestinian children killed in the West Bank and Gaza combined since 1967.

A total of 4,506 children were killed, and 21 hospitals and 47 health centres have been put out of services. Tens of thousands face the prospect of ongoing bombardment and dire conditions. Others have crowded into and around hospitals, sleeping in operating rooms and wards.

“Also 1,350 children are said to be missing under the rubble of destroyed buildings, most of whom are presumed dead, meaning that over 5,500 Palestinian children have been killed in Gaza over the past 30 days, at a rate of over 180 children per day.

“Israeli forces are killing Palestinian children at a shocking rate as world leaders actively show, day after day, that they lack the temerity to force an end to the bombardment, the bare minimum humanitarian response,” the child rights organisation said.

And UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres chipped in: “Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children. Hundreds of girls and boys are reportedly being killed or injured every day. Without fuel, newborn babies in incubators and patients on life support will die.”

Let us all continue to pray for sanity to prevail soon in Gaza.

The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.