Language of Death
“This attack is the final Israeli push to extinguish a Palestinian state and crush or expel the Palestinian people. The images of dead Palestinian children, lined up as if asleep on the floor of the main hospital in Gaza, are a metaphor for the future. Israel will, from now on, speak to the Palestinians in the language of death. And the language of death is all the Palestinians will be able to speak back. The slaughter—let’s stop pretending this is a war—is empowering an array of radical Islamists inside and outside of Gaza. It is ominously demolishing the shaky foundations of the corrupt secular Arab regimes on Israel’s borders, from Egypt to Jordan to Syria to Lebanon. It is about creating a new Middle East, one ruled by enraged Islamic radicals.”
- Chris Hedges, The Language of Death
What’s happening in Gaza is a humanitarian catastrophe. Even for those of us watching the images of death on a daily basis, seeing what’s happening to the children is heartbreaking every time. Of the 900+ who’ve already lost their lives, at least 300 have been children. According to medical reports on the ground, half of the injured are children. Amputations and other permanent afflictions are commonplace. The sights are gutwrenching. It comes as no surprise that the UN Human Rights Council condemned Israel for gravely violating the already scarce human rights of the Palestinians.
In a recent interview with Al Jazeera, one of the few Western doctors in Gaza said this war is being carried out against the civilian population and that he has the numbers to prove it (some people are seeking desperately to discredit him). He said people are suffering injuries that must be inflicted by horrific weaponry like Dense Inert Metal Explosives (DIME).
Innocent people are the ones paying the price, not only with their lives and their blood, but through the loss of everything else. There is no doubt that war crimes are being perpetrated by the Israelis on a massive scale. “In the name of humanity and all that is civilized, we need to stop this now,” pleaded John Ging, the Director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza. “It’s very clear to us that there are a lot of actions in this conflict that need to be thoroughly investigated – independently and internationally.”
But sadly, governments have so far failed to echo the demands of humanitarian organizations and the protests on their own streets. Despite what they say, they don’t care enough to do anything useful, especially the Arab despots.
The Israelis are hoping that by destroying life in Gaza they can put down any resistance to their inhumanity. But their barbarity will only help radicalize the resistance movement. What does fate have in store for the children who have been maimed and/or orphaned by USraeli weaponry? Surely their hatred of Zionism will only intensify. As always, religious extremists inside and outside of occupied Palestine will benefit from Israel’s savage brutality. Maybe this is precisely what Israel wants. So long as Islamic movements are regarded with such suspicion in the eyes of the West and its allies in the Middle East, Israel’s transgressions can continue unheeded. As long as “fighting terrorism” is the pretext given, self-serving politicians can do nothing but toe the line. By further radicalizing those under occupation, Israelis will have more excuses to keep fighting them; they will easily be able to justify further delays to US politicians who will eat it up with zeal. It’s all very clever.
