Un plan arabe réaliste pour la bande de Gaza
Editorial, Le Monde, 10 mars 2025
Media April 2025
‘We’ll Die Whether From Hunger or the Bombing’: Gaza Faces Critical Food Shortage
Sheren Falah Saab, Haaretz, April 26, 2025
WFP says has depleted all Gaza food stocks as Israel blocks aid
The Jordan Times, April 26, 2025
Hamas agrees to five year ceasefire in exchange for all remaining hostages – report
Reuters, The Jerusalem Post, April 26, 2025
UNRWA COMMISSIONER-GENERAL ON GAZA: CHILDREN ARE STARVING
Unrwa.org, April 25, 2025
Report: Gaza war exposes rifts within IDF over civilian casualties
Nadav Eyal, YNet News, April 25, 2025
World Food Program Says It Has Run Out of Food Stocks in Gaza Due to Closing of Crossings
Nir Hasson, Liza Rozovsky, Haaretz, April 25, 2025
Anti-Hamas protests on rise in Gaza as group’s iron grip slips
Paul Adams, BBC, April 24, 2025
Israeli strikes across Gaza kill at least 28, mostly women and children
Egypt Today, April 24, 2025
Aid to Gaza: E3 France, Germany, UK foreign ministers’ statement, 23 April 2025
ReliefWeb.int, April 23, 2025
Authorities launch crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood following official ban
The Jordan Times, April 23, 2025
‘Give back the hostages, sons of dogs, end the war’ PA president tells Hamas
Einav Halabi, Haaretz, April 23, 2025
Jordan bans Muslim Brotherhood, seizes group’s offices and assets
Egypt Today, April 23, 2025
‘Sons of dogs, release the hostages,’ Mahmoud Abbas tells Hamas
The Jerusalem Post, April 23, 2025
Children in school shelter among 25 killed in wave of Israeli strikes on Gaza
Bethan McKernan, The Guardian, April 23, 2025
Abbas tells ‘sons of dogs’ Hamas to free hostages, remove Israel’s ‘excuses’ for Gaza war
Nurit Yohanan, The Times of Israel, April 23, 2025
My Thoughts During the Siren
Gideon Levy, Haaretz, April 23, 2025
The never-ending war
David Horovitz, The Times of Israel, April 23, 2025
UNRWA COMMISSIONER-GENERAL ON GAZA: HOW MUCH LONGER UNTIL HOLLOW WORDS OF CONDEMNATION WILL TRANSLATE INTO ACTION TO LIFT THE SIEGE
Philippe Lazzarini, Unrwa.org, April 22, 2025
Shifting sands in the Muslim world: More Arab countries rejecting jihad against Israel
Pesach Wolicki, The Jerusalem Post, April 22, 2025
Hamas delegation heads to Egypt to discuss new ceasefire proposals for Gaza
Egypt Today, April 22, 2025
Israeli delegation holds talks in Cairo as mediators float long-term truce – report
AFP, The Times of Israel, April 21, 2025
‘Pope Francis was a voice for peace, truth in all crises, conflicts’: Pope Tawadros
Egypt Today, April 21, 2025
Mideast leaders, groups praise Pope Francis over Gaza
AFP, The Jordan Times, April 21, 2025
Hamas claims it won’t develop weapons, dig tunnels during long-term truce with Israel
Jacob Magid, The Times of Israel, April 20, 2025
Report: Hamas recruiting 30,000 fighters in Gaza as it shifts to guerrilla warfare
Einav Halabi, YNet News, April 20, 2025 / new Gaza math : 40 – 20 = 50
Khan Yunis, Gaza’s City of Slaughter
Gideon Levy, Haaretz, April 20, 2025
April 20: Israel cancels entry visas for 27 left-wing French lawmakers days before trip
The Times of Israel, April 20, 2025
Admitting ‘errors,’ IDF fires officer over killing of 15 rescue workers in Gaza’s Rafah
Emanuel Fabian, The Times of Israel, April 20, 2025
In third Hamas video, Elkana Bohbot urges his family to keep working for his release
The Times of Israel, April 19, 2025
Despair in Gaza as Israeli aid blockade creates crisis ‘unmatched in severity’
Bethan McKernan, The Guardian, April 19, 2025
Hamas: Fate of US captive Edan Alexander unknown as guard found dead
Amr Mohamed Kandil, Egypt Today, April 19, 2025
Eyeing a new opportunity, Jewish settlers are positioning themselves on the Gaza border
Deborah Danan / JTA, The Jerusalem Post, April 19, 2025
Hostages’ son appears to accuse some in right-wing forums of willingness to ‘sacrifice their sons to conquer land in Gaza’
The Times of Israel, April 19, 2025
‘If the Women Leading the Fight for Hostages Ran Israel, the Country Would Be Saner’
Chen Maanit, Haaretz, April 19, 2025
Sasha Troufanov : On Passover, we don’t celebrate the victory over the Egyptians
The Jerusalem Post, April 18, 2025
The Situation in Gaza Is No Longer a War, but an Unrestrained Assault on Civilians
Jack Khoury, Haaretz, April 18, 2025
Gaza photojournalist, family killed in Gaza strike; IDF says it targeted Hamas operative
Emanuel Fabian, The Times of Israel, April 18, 2025
Aid to Gaza ‘facing total collapse’: 12 NGOs
The Jordan Times, April 17, 2025
Gaza’s Humanitarian Crisis at Its Worst Since War Began, With Thousands of Children Severely Malnourished, UN Says
Nir Hasson, Haaretz, April 17, 2025
Civil pilots, ex-soldiers and bereaved families join public calls for hostage deal
The Times of Israel, April 17, 2025
‘We’re Champions at Repression’: Israel Air Force Pilots Open Up About the Moral Dilemmas of the Gaza War
Itay Maschiah, Ran Shimoni, Haaretz, April 17, 2025
A generation at risk: Schooling in the West Bank under threat
ReliefWeb, April 17, 2025
Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah ‘step by step,’ says President Aoun
The Jerusalem Post, April 17, 2025
Over 200 Ex-senior Israel Police Officials Join Call to End Gaza War to Secure Hostage Return
Bar Peleg, Noa Shpigel, Haaretz, April 16, 2025
Children among 11 killed in pre-dawn Israeli strike in Gaza City
Al Arabiya, April 16, 2025
‘Next bomb will fall on my head’, captive Israeli soldier sends new video message to Netanyahu
Egypt Today, April 16, 2025
Israeli defense minister says no aid to enter Gaza as a tool of pressure on Hamas
Al Arabiya, April 16, 2025
Egypt praises EU’s proposed €1.6B program to foster Palestinian recovery, resilience
Egypt Today, April 16, 2025
Amid Rising Anti-war Protests, IDF to Cut Reserves, Bolster Combat Zones With Conscripts
Yaniv Kubovich, Bar Peleg, Haaretz, April 16, 2025
Gaza has become a “mass grave” for Palestinians and those helping them
ReliefWeb, April 16, 2025
The systematic unmaking of Gaza
Michael Jansen, The Jordan Times, April 16, 2025
Freed hostages and their relatives show support for IDF reservists fired for anti-war stance
Bar Peleg, Haaretz, April 15, 2025
Health workers and Nobel laureates issue joint letter demanding cease-fire
Ido Efrati, Haaretz, April 15, 2025
Israeli demands hostage release for Gaza ceasefire – Hamas
AFP, The Jordan Times, April 15, 2025
Macron says he told Netanyahu suffering in Gaza ‘must end,’ only a ceasefire can free hostages
The Times of Israel, April 15, 2025
Ex-hostages, prominent authors join mounting calls for deal – even if it ends war
Stav Levaton, Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel, April 15, 2025
Why Mossad and Shin Bet Veterans Are Now Calling to End the War in Gaza
Yossi Melman, Haaretz, April 15, 2025
Educators, reservists, ex-diplomats are latest to urge hostage deal, even by ending war
The Times of Israel, April 15, 2025
18 Months of War and Hubris: Israel’s Leaders Should Read What Moshe Dayan Learned in Vietnam
Aluf Benn, Haaretz, April 15, 2025
Israel offers 45-day ceasefire in exchange for half of remaining hostages, Hamas says
Al Arabiya, April 15, 2025
We Protested the War Peacefully in Haifa. Police Used Violence – Because We’re Palestinians
Mohammed Abdel Qader, Haaretz, April 15, 2025
UN says Israel killed 71 civilians in Lebanon since ceasefire
The Jordan Times, April 15, 2025
Report: Israel ceasefire proposal includes talks on permanent truce, Hamas disarmament
Lior Ben Ari, Itamar Eichner, YNet News, April 15, 2025
Hamas Aren’t Nazis and Gaza Isn’t Dresden
Nir Hasson, Haaretz, April 14, 2025
Ex-Mossad members, paratroopers, medics join call for hostage deal even if it ends war
Stav Levaton, The Times of Israel, April 14, 2025
Hamas said willing to free a larger number of hostages under potential deal
The Times of Israel, April 14, 2025
RARE PHOTOS: When Moshe Dayan Toured Vietnam and Called Out U.S. Arrogance
Chen Malul, National Library, Haaretz, April 14, 2025
Mossad veterans, reserve medical officers sign letters calling for deal to end war, return captives
The Jerusalem Post, April 13, 2025
‘No to Ethnic Cleansing’ | Hundreds of U.S. Rabbis, Jewish Celebrities Condemn Trump Gaza Plan in NYT
Etan Nechin, Haaretz, April 13, 2025
Hundreds of Leading Israeli Literary Figures Sign Petition Calling for End to Gaza War
Gili Izikovich, Haaretz, April 13, 2025
What’s behind the unprecedented tension between Israel and Turkey?
Dr Michael Milshtein, YNet News, April 13, 2025
Israel Is Closer to a Civil War Than Ever Before
Unbridled Pogromists: Israel Must Fight the Violent Jewish Terrorists in the West Bank
Ehud Olmert, Haaretz, April 11, published April 13, 2025
Iran, US hold ‘positive’ talks in Oman, agree to resume ‘indirect’ talks next week
Al Arabiya, April 13, 2025
Lebanese Army takes control of most of Hezbollah bases in south Lebanon, some sites in north
Yuval Barnea, The Jerusalem Post, April 13, 2025
A Nation without a compass: The cost of Israel’s war without endgame strategy
Dr Michael Milshtein, YNet News, published April 12, 2025
We met in a Gaza hospital, bleeding souls—we are twins | The story of Romi and Emily
Ziv Koren, YNet News, April 12, 2025
Samy Gemayel urges Hezbollah to ‘voluntarily surrender its weapons’
L’Orient Today, April 12, 2025
Hostages Still Held in Gaza Cast Shadow Over Passover in Israel
Adam Rasgon, The New York Times, April 12, 2025
Arab-Islamic ministerial committee warns of catastrophe in Gaza, demands unrestricted aid access
The Jordan Times, April 12, 2025
IDF 8200 intelligence soldiers call on gov’t to stop fighting, bring back hostages
The Jerusalem Post, April 11, 2025
150+ ex-naval officers, dozens of reservist doctors warn war delays hostages’ release
Stav Levaton, The Times of Israel, April 11, 2025
‘Dead Children’s Area’: American Surgeons Return From Gaza and Can’t Forget the Nightmare
Nir Hasson, Haaretz, April 11, 2025
Israel-Palestine: Saving the two-state solution
Editorial, Le Monde, April 11, 2025
36 Israeli strikes in Gaza killed ‘only women and children,’ UN finds
AFP, Al Arabiya, April 11, 2025
Macron’s three-day visit to Egypt was “extremely important”, French Foreign Ministry spokesman
Egypt Today, April 10, 2025
IDF to expel hundreds of air force reservists for calling end to war
Yonah Jeremy Bob, The Jerusalem Post, April 10, 2025
Air Force reservists who signed letter against continuing war to be removed
YNet News, April 10, 2025
Gaza’s amputees face life in war zone with little treatment, less hope
Al Arabiya, April 10, 2025
Report:Nearly 1,000 Israeli Air Force reservists sign letter opposing Gaza War
The Middle East Eye, April 10, 2025
What does the public really know about the fighting in Gaza?
Yossi Yehoshua, YNet News, April 10, 2025
Around 75% of Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza not destroyed by IDF – N12
Yuval Levy, The Jerusalem Post, April 9, 2025
Israel air force chief threatens pilots with dismissal over Gaza anti-war letter
The New Arab, April 9, 2025
In Gaza, the sacrifices made by the ‘unknown soldiers’ of journalism
Marie Jo Sader, Le Monde, April 9, 2025
UN condemns Israel’s killing of journalists in Gaza
Muhammet Ikbal Arslan, Gizem Nisa Cebi, Anadolu Ajansi, April 9, 2025
Negative record: Over half of US adults view Israel unfavorably, Pew survey finds
YNet News, April 9, 2025
Selective silence: How Israeli media shapes public perception of Gaza War
Michael Jansen, The Jordan Times, April 9, 2025
Facing calls to disarm, Hezbollah ready to discuss weapons if Israel withdraws, senior official say
Reuters, The Jerusalem Post, April 9, 2025
Macron: France plans to recognize a Palestinian state, likely by June
AFP, YNet News, April 9, 2025
IDF sources admit it may take years to root out all Hamas terrorists in Gaza – exclusive
Yonah Jeremy Bob, The Jerusalem Post, April 9, 2025
‘The Gates of Hell Are Open Night and Day’: Malnutrition, Illness and Lack of Drinking Water Plague Gaza
Nir Hasson, Haaretz, April 9, 2025
Six weeks since Israel imposed total Gaza blockade, last food is running out
The New Arab, April 9, 2025
Macron tours Egypt aid outpost for Gaza
Al Arabiya, April 8, 2025
I knew some of the paramedics killed in Gaza. As humanitarian workers, we are drowning in grief
I have worked in the world’s most dangerous combat zones. Never have I felt as unsafe as I did in Gaza
Amy Neilson, The Guardian, April 8, 2025
Gaza’s ‘death zone’: Israeli soldiers describe demolition of infrastructure to create buffer
Michael Jansen, The Irish Times, April 8, 2025
France’s Macron says ‘political solution’ is only way to achieve peace in Gaza
Thousands rally in Arish to welcome Sisi and Macron, expressing support for Palestine
Egypt Today, April 8, 2025
On Gaza, Macron seeks to strengthen ties with Arab countries to counter Trump and Netanyahu
Philippe Ricard, Le Monde, April 8, 2025
UN says nearly 400,000 displaced since end of Gaza ceasefire
The Jordan Times, April 8, 2025
Aoun: Continued Israeli aggression threatens stability in south Lebanon
L’Orient Today, April 8, 2025
IDF dissolves platoon, dismisses officers after reservists vandalize West Bank camp
Emanuel Fabian, The Times of Israel, April 8, 2025
Satellite Images Reveal the Destruction Wrought by the IDF in West Bank Refugee Camps
Hagar Shezaf, Avi Scharf, Haaretz, April 8, 2025
IAF chief works to prevent letter of reservists refusing to fight, says war ‘too political’
The Jerusalem Post, April 8, 2025
Freed hostage gets wave of hate for saying Netanyahu to blame for Oct. 7
The Times of Israel, April 8, 2025
Hostage Forum publishes health report for 24 living hostages, warns ‘time is running out’
Shira Silkoff, The Times of Israel, April 8, 2025
Macron’s visit to Egypt ‘of great importance’ amid deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza
Egypt Today, April 7, 2025
Can Gaza rise from war’s ashes? RAND Experts offer reconstruction blueprint
Jennifer Bell, Al Arabiya, April 8, 2025
France, Egypt and Jordan say Palestinian Authority must govern post-war Gaza
Le Monde, April 7, 2025
Cairo summit calls for immediate Gaza ceasefire
Egypt Today, April 7, 2025
Joint communiqué released at conclusion of Cairo trilateral summit between Jordan, Egypt, and France
The Jordan Times, April 7, 2025
Leaders of France, Jordan, Egypt press Trump on Gaza ceasefire, as Netanyahu visits US
The Times of Israel, April 7, 2025
Jordanian King arrives Ittihadiya Palace, tripartite summit kicks off
Egypt Today, April 7, 2025
Over 23,000 children and youth physically or mentally damaged by war – report
The Times of Israel, April 7, 2025
Israeli soldiers describe clearance of ‘kill zone’ on Gaza’s edge
Reuters, April 7, 2025
Egypt Proposes 70-day Gaza Cease-fire and Return of 9 Living, 3 Dead Israeli Hostage
Jack Khoury, Haaretz, April 7, 2025
Gaza paramedics shot in upper body ‘with intent to kill’, Red Crescent says
Peter beaumont, The Guardian, April 7, 2025
‘It’s up to us to fix this’: Obama urges universities to defend academic freedom
Yuval Levy, The Jerusalem Post, April 7, 2025
Gaza war, strategic partnership: What is on Macron’s agenda during Egypt visit
Macron to hold talks on Gaza with Sisi, King Abdullah during Egypt visit
Amr Mohamed Kandil, Egypt Today, April 6, 2025
Deaths of Gaza Aid Workers Test New IDF Chief as Army’s Recklessness Spreads to West Bank
Amos Harel, Haaretz, April 6, 2025
Israeli military changes account of Palestinian medics’ killing after video showed attack
Bethan McKernan, The Guardian, April 6, 2025
‘The goal is to create a situation in which Hamas will fear the population in Gaza,’ expert says
Peled Arbeli, The Jerusalem Post, April 6, 2025
Trump’s tariff policy is part of a shift that threatens the future of Israel
Dr Nathaniel Wolloch, YNet News, April 6, 2025
Jerusalem’s Royal committee urges action to halt genocide in Palestine
The Jordan Times, April 6, 2025
Israel’s bombing of Saudi aid warehouse in Gaza sparks outrage across Middle East
Al Arabiya, April 5, 2025
Sisi, Macron affirm 2-state solution is ‘only guarantee’ for peace
Egypt Today, April 5, 2025
Freed hostage Omer Wenkert to PM: ‘Invite me to the cabinet, look me in the eyes’
Uri Sela, The Jerusalem Post, April 5, 2025
NYT releases video showing Gaza ambulances had emergency lights when IDF fired on them
The Times of Israel, April 5, 2025
Israeli general condemns West Bank settler riot, ‘vandalism’ by troops
Al Arabiya, April 5, 2025
Gazans flee expanding strikes in north, south as IDF says fighting entering ‘new stage’
The Times of Israel, April 4, 2025
Before Anything Else, Israeli Protesters Must Demand an End to the Biggest State Crime of All: The Gaza War
Ofri Ilany, Haaretz, April 4, 2025
Does anyone remember phase two of the Gaza hostage deal?
David Brinn, The Jerusalem Post, April 4, 2025
Israel revises death toll from 2023 attack on music festival
Al Arabiya, April 4, 2025
Video Shows Aid Workers Killed in Gaza Under Gunfire Barrage, With Ambulance Lights On
Farnaz Fassihi, Christoph Koettl, The New York Times, April 4, 2025
Looking Back, Israeli Historian Tom Segev Thinks Zionism Was a Mistake
Ofer Aderet, Haaretz, April 4, 2025
Israel begins dividing Gaza as it seeks to reoccupy the enclave
L’Orient Today, April 3, 2025
Saudi Arabia condemns Israeli raids, accuses Israel of undermining Syria’s stability
Al Arabiya, April 3, 2025
Shiny and deadly, unexploded munitions a threat to Gaza children
AFP, The Jordan Times, April 3, 2025
‘It’s not politics — it’s saving lives’: Hostages’ families urge US action at Senate hearing
Daniel Edelson, YNet News, April 3, 2025
Gaza heritage and destruction on display in Paris
Iraqi News, April 3, 2025
Nova music festival massacre probe: IDF missed warning signs, one cop saved hundreds
Yoav Zitun, YNet News, April 3, 2025
UNRWA calls for ceasefire resumption as humanitarian crisis worsens in Gaza
Egypt Today, April 2, 2025
Severe Threat of Famine: Last UN Bakery Closes in Gaza Month After Israel’s Humanitarian Aid Halt
Nir Hasson, Rawan Suleiman, Haaretz, April 2, 2025
Saudi Arabia condemns Ben-Gvir’s visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque compound
Al Arabiya, April 2, 2025
Israel says expands Gaza offensive to seize ‘large areas’
The Jordan Times, April 2, 2025
UN condemns killing of 1,000 people in Gaza since ceasefire collapse
UN News, April 2, 2025
Katz says offensive aimed at seizing ‘extensive territory,’ as IDF pounds south Gaza
The Times of Israel, April 2, 2025
One month of Israel’s closure is pushing Gaza back towards famine
ReliefWeb, April 2, 2025
Gaza rescue mission turns into a massacre
Madjid Zerrouky, Le Monde, April 2, 2025
Israel expands Gaza offensive, rescuers say fresh strikes kill 15
Al Arabiya, April 2, 2025
Arabs say they want partnership. What about the Jews?
Amnon Beeri-Sulitzeanu , The Times of Israel, April 2, 2025
At least 322 children reportedly killed in Gaza in 10 days — UN
AFP, The Jordan Times, April 1, 2025
Israelis Will Have to Look in the Mirror and See the Gaza Atrocities Committed in Our Name
Haaretz Editorial, April 1, 2025
What the Shin Bet does—and why its leadership matters
Steven Ganot, YNet News, April 1, 2025
At least 322 children reportedly killed in the Gaza Strip following breakdown of ceasefire
Unicef Org, March 31, 2025
GAZA FACTS & ECHOES 2016 – 2018
MARCH 30, 2018 : 15 KILLED, DOZENS WOUNDED… THE GAZA VOLCANO IS ERUPTING….
MAY 14, 2018 : 60 KILLED, over ONE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED WOUNDED…
Matan Tzuri, YNet News, June 19, 2019
Israel to build new sewage pipeline to divert waste from Gaza [to prevent contamination]
Sandy Tolan, Al Jazeera, October 29, 2018
Gaza’s drinking water spurs blue baby syndrome, serious illnesses
Sandy Tolan, Al Jazeera, October 30, 2018
How can Gaza’s contaminated water catastrophe be solved?
Herb Keinon, The Jerusalem Post, August 17, 2018
ANALYSIS: SYRIA IN GAZA, WITHOUT THE RUSSIANS
Lisa Rozovsky, Haaretz, June 2018
For Young Palestinians, There’s Only One Way Out of Gaza
“In Gaza you have to think a certain way, live in a certain way. Your friends, the language, the culture – it’s all very rigid. You can’t change it.”
Michael Bachner, The Times of Israel, June 20, 2018
In rare move, Egypt said to keep Gaza crossing open for 2 more months
Alia Chughtai, Al Jazeera, May 16, 2018
Palestinians’ Great March of Return: The human cost
Ayelett Shani, Haaretz, November 11, 2017
Gaza Kids Live in Hell: A Psychologist Tells of Rampant Sexual Abuse, Drugs and Despair
GAZA DATA SHEET
There are one million children under the age of 15 in the Gaza Strip.
200,000 boys between the age of 15 and 24.
The median age in Gaza is 17.
In Israel the median age is 30. [38 in the US, 41 in France, 47 in Germany]
In Gaza, the Youth Dependency Ratio is over 70%. In Israel it is close to 46%.
[In the US and France: 29%; 20% in Germany]
The Literacy Rate in Gaza is high: 97%.
So is Unemployment for the young and for women: 66%. [1,2]
As for Water from the tap, 97% is polluted, unfit.
So is sea water: people can’t bathe, as it is contaminated, hazardous to health.
100,000 cubic meters of untreated sewage are rejected into the sea every day.
Electricity is on 3 to 4 hours daily, at random times night and day.
There are 59 km of fences between Gaza and Israel.
There are 13 km of fences between Gaza and Egypt.
In January 2008, activists broke through the heavy metal fences. Half the population (800,000 at the time) rushed to Egypt, and were driven back after a few days. Check Gaza Border Breach.
What Israelis fear is another Border Breach of such magnitude, this time into Israel. [3]
Since the beginning of 2018, the number of trucks entering Gaza through Kerem Shalom has fallen from 1000 a day (2015-2016) to less than 350, as there is no trade flourishing in Gaza : people just can’t buy anymore.
80% of Gazans live in poverty, 65% under the poverty line.
45% of the people are unemployed (as opposed to 20% in the West Bank and 4.3% in Israel)
“Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp,” ex British PM Cameron declared, in July 2010, adding: “People in Gaza are living under constant attacks and pressure in an open-air prison”.
[2] Female unemployment in Gaza skyrockets, 66% without jobs 2018/3/7 https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5148754,00.html
[3] 2018/4/25 “The main goal […] remains to break through the fence, allowing hundreds and thousands of civilians to run into Israeli territory” https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5239265,00.html
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Iyad Abuheweila & Isabel Kershner, The New York Times, June 2, 2018
A Woman Dedicated to Saving Lives Loses Hers in Gaza Violence
“…this is the first time I see the despair everywhere, in every corner…There is no joie de vivre, no joy during Ramadan. People have no incomes, no food, no medicine. The sense is that the world has forgotten about the Gaza Strip and its people. Life and death are the same side of the coin for a lot of people. I hear people say that explicitly…
…We as residents feel we’re actually hostages to a system of interests and power plays, and where they will lead, nobody can say.” Jack Khoury, Haaretz, May 30,2018
Ahmad Abu Amer, Al Monitor, April 29, 2018
Economic disobedience looms in Gaza
Extracts “Economic disobedience looms in Gaza” :
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Private sector institutions in the Gaza Strip threatened April 23 to start acts of economic disobedience by closing commercial crossings and refusing to pay taxes to the Palestinian government authorities. The private sector institutions hope to put pressure on Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza in addition to pressuring the Palestinian Authority (PA) to cancel the sanctions imposed on the coastal enclave since April 2017, which culminated this month with the suspension of the salaries of public workers.
In a statement that Al-Monitor secured a copy of, the institutions said, “The Gaza Strip is on the verge of complete collapse in all its vital sectors. There is no longer any room for silence. Gaza is dying. The situation is crumbling down economically, socially and at the health level. (…) We requested an urgent meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas, but we have yet to receive a response.”
The statement continued that they have carried out several protests over the past months in a bid to convey messages to all parties, starting with Israel, the neighboring countries and the international communities as well as to the PA and Hamas. Their activities and calls fell on deaf ears.
The protest movements in Gaza started on Jan. 22 with a national strike (…)
Alaa al-Din al-Araj, the head of the Palestinian Contractors Union in Gaza (…) noted that the authorities are well-aware of the consequences of such a threat, mainly a complete economic shutdown. Araj also stressed that the goal is to put an end to the blockade and the sanctions that have affected every household in Gaza.
A Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics report published April 14 shows that the poverty rate in the coastal strip has reached 53%.
Khalil Rizk, the head of the Federation of Palestinian Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, told Al-Monitor that the federation has been in contact with the PA in an attempt to stop the punitive measures.
On April 24, 100 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the Gaza Strip called on Abbas to disburse the salaries of public servants in Gaza and called on Israel to lift its siege on the Gaza Strip in order to stop what they deemed as “the rapid economic collapse plaguing the Gaza Strip.”
(…) the number of trucks entering the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing has fallen to less than 350 trucks per day compared to 800-1,000 trucks per day in 2015 and 2016.
(…) the PA provides $100 million in total to the Gaza Strip per month, $70 million of which is earmarked for the salaries of government employees. The absence of these funds this month paralyzed the financial cycle in Gaza’s markets and banks. He called on private sector institutions in the West Bank to support their counterparts in Gaza by taking steps to pressure the Palestinian officials to back down from the punitive measures against the Gaza Strip.
Muhammad Shehada, Haaretz, April 9, 2018
Marching in Gaza, my brother risks death – to feel free
Extracts “My brother in Gaza” :
My asthmatic younger brother, Salah 18, is scheduled for an urgent eye operation in Egypt, without which he might permanently lose the sight in his right eye. He’s also been awarded a scholarship to study in Algeria, and has been fighting to get out of the Gaza Strip to take up his place for nearly two years, without success.
His life is being entirely stolen from him by Israel’s blockade, yet his future stares back at him just a footstep away, from behind the giant concrete walls that seal Gaza. He’s in a race against time not to lose his sight, his mind, and his life as well.
Almost every day, my brother shows up for the Gaza “Great Return March,” although my mother has desperately tried almost everything to stop him from running bare-chested towards his death.
The border protests are the only place where it feels that he’s at least doing something about his own slow death, even if only to scream at the top of his lungs, telling the world “We are here!”
It’s the only place where he and all of my friends in Gaza can catch a breath of freedom, despite the stinging tear gas, even if it’s just for a moment.
…/…
Hamas has deployed its security and intelligence personnel to maintain what it sees as the three critical parameters of the protest: independence, non-violence, and no breach of the fence into Israel. The security forces are assigned to prevent individual attempts to disrupt the protest’s non-violence, such as young people trying to throw molotov cocktails towards Israel. Some cases slip their attention; others are dealt with firmly.
Last Friday, my brother accidentally walked into a tent where the wounded were being attended to. He and his friends were dragged into interrogations by Palestinian internal security personnel for taking photos of the tent and for holding spontaneous interviews with the wounded.
Hamas, despite remaining dismissive of the protest’s ability to challenge Israel’s blockade, has, like all political parties would have done, jumped with alacrity into the protests to accrue political capital, recognizing the backdrop as an opportune moment for photoshoots, for fueling popular support and to advance its vested interests.
When Israel responds to the protests with violence, Hamas cheers those dramatic photographs’ ability to return Gaza to world headlines, and to concentrate the people’s anger on Israel and its “complicit partner,” the Palestinian Authority.
…/…
Hamas hopes the protest will go some way to counter the pressure that’s been ramping up since the assassination attempt on Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah. The Palestinian Authority initially blamed Hamas for the explosion which targeted Hamdallah’s convoy as he was visiting Gaza. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas then threatened to impose even more severe sanctions on Gaza than those that already make the enclave unlivable.
Hamas hopes the protests will convince Abbas to give the reconciliation a second chance and avoid being blamed by Israel for pouring more fuel into Gaza’s imminent explosion.
Hamas is also calculating that both Israel and Egypt are watching how swiftly and easily it’s mobilized the masses. That’s in order that Israel might put pressure on Egypt to ease its part of the blockade to assuage popular tension and anger.
It would be a mistake for onlookers to assume that Hamas’ hijacking of the protest undermines its authenticity and the genuine pain of Gazans.
Yes, the protests are being pushed hard, by blanket promotions in street talks, schools, mosques, universities, shops and on taxies, the pictures of Ismail Haniya playing football close to the border, Yahya Sinwar’s inflammatory speeches, and Hamas paying $3000 to the families of the dead (despite the organization itself receiving the tenfold that amount).
But Hamas cannot drag young people out of bed at gunpoint and shuttle them to the borders to dance to its tune. Young Gazans are making their way there by their own free will.
Was it not for the misery inflicted by Gaza’s status quo, no one would show up for that date with death. Although some have joined out of mere curiosity, to see an area they never dared to step foot in before, and others joined out of national pride, or to simply take photos, many of the people present felt they had to participate in the march to challenge their sense of their own slow and painful deaths.
Every protestor has a heartbreaking story and a profound reason to stand in front of immediate danger, unarmed. Gazans have been living on the edge of death, starvation and collapse for 11 years, pushing the boundaries for human survival. These grievances can never be faked, and they must be addressed.
Despite the evident danger, my brother, like most people I know in Gaza, is going to keep showing up at the protests every day, until he perishes – or breaks free.
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THE OTHER VOICE
“The Other Voice” is a grassroots movement founded by Israelis living in the town of Sderot and other locations near the Gaza Strip border. The aim of “The Other Voice” is to reach out to the Gaza Palestinians, to promote peaceful dialogue and call for an end to the siege of the Gaza Strip and the occupation and oppression of the Palestinians in general. Members of “The Other Voice” maintain ongoing personal contacts with Gaza Strip Palestinians, unbroken even in periods of high tensions, violence and bloodshed. It is virtually impossible to have face-to-face meetings since Gaza Palestinians are virtually never allowed to enter Israel and Israeli citizens similarly are forbidden to enter Gaza; still, it is possible to maintain contact, across the high physical and mental barriers, by phone and the net.
The activities of “The Other Voice” are far from easy, in the Gaza border area there live some aggressive nationalists. Expressing peace-oriented opinions in this environment is more difficult than in the (relatively) liberal Tel Aviv. Still, the activists persist in holding weekly vigils every Friday at the Yad Morderchai Junction, a short distance north of the Erez Checkpoint at the (blocked) entrance to the Gaza Strip. The junction is bustling with traffic, both civilians and soldiers en route to the Gaza border, and activists are highly visible when they raise placards and banners with such slogans as “End the Violence – rebuild Gaza!” and “On Both Sides of the Border, Children Want to Live!“. There are sympathetic reactions from passers-by and motorists, but also some highly hostile ones, including several instances of physical violence. Members of “The Other Voice” are not deterred by any such ugly incidents, and are determined to raise their voice, The Other Voice in very truth, as high as possible. For the Israeli Peace Movement as a whole, this voice is of special importance – since Israelis who live in the close proximity of the Gaza border have a special moral authority, position in the Israeli society, as being those who will likely personally bear the dire results of any new violent flareup. Their outspoken call, to halt the violence and oppression and solve the deep humanitarian and political problems of Gaza has a greater resonance than a call by Israelis living elsewhere.
Expressions of solidarity and goodwill, made by people worldwide, are highly appreciated and strengthening. You can help by raising the issue in your own country, reaching out to decision-makers and the general public opinion. Relations between Israelis and Palestinians have long since stopped being their own exclusive concern. People and governments from all over the world are involved – and should be involved in the right way.
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More Palestinians Will Die Unless Gaza Becomes Livable
Open Gaza to weaken Hamas. Lift the blockade, properly fund UNRWA, rehabilitate Gaza’s infrastructure – these are the only ways we can prevent the desperation of protestors willing to lose their lives
A Palestinian man sells drinking water in Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, April 16, 2016AP / Khalil Hamra
Over the past six weeks, nearly 100 men, women, and children have been killed in the protests along Gaza’s border with Israel. Over 11,000 more have been injured. One thing is absolutely certain about the latest crisis in Gaza – the status quo is failing.
As a sitting Congressman and a physician, our work has collectively taken us to Gaza more than five times. We’ve seen firsthand the devastation and poverty that the siege on Gaza has wrought.
The humanitarian situation is extremely grave. Only those who have little to lose would willingly approach the border with Israel, knowing they are likely to be injured or killed.
At the same time, the situation is complex and there is much blame to share. All of the major players have made decisions and taken steps to enhance their own interests while most of the almost two million Palestinians who live in Gaza are powerless victims caught in the middle.
It is important to remember that Israel has real security interests at stake in Gaza. Hamas has an arsenal of rockets and missiles, as well as sophisticated tunnels that threaten Israeli civilians. Likewise, we must remember that Hamas is exploiting the desperation of their own people in an attempt to inject violence into the border demonstrations.
But that does not justify using live fire against unarmed protesters or blockading the entire population for years on end.
Any serious attempt at peace between Israel and Palestine must start with fully funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the agency that provides humanitarian assistance, food, health care, education and emergency assistance to Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian territories.
Because President Trump has frozen U.S. payments to UNRWA, UNRWA can’t guarantee it will be able to provide schooling to the more than 272,000 children in Gaza when the next school year begins in August. UNRWA also can’t guarantee that it can continue to run its health centers in Gaza, which serve more than 1.3 million refugees. In addition, emergency interventions, like food assistance, are also at risk of being suspended or dramatically scaled down
Even Israeli security officials advocate for UNRWA funding because they see it as important to Israel’s security and well-being. UNRWA provides the basic stability needed for a peace deal to be negotiated.
But the latest crisis in Gaza cannot be resolved just by funding UNRWA. There are also the energy and water crises that must be dealt with. Gazans survive on as little as four hours of electricity per day, which disrupts basic services such as water and sanitation services. Due to the lack of energy, Gaza’s facilities that could help reduce the sewage aren’t running near capacity. More than 100 million liters, the equivalent of 40 Olympic-size swimming pools, of raw sewage enters the Mediterranean Sea daily and contaminates both Gaza’s beaches and Israel’s coastal cities.
In addition, nearly two-thirds of Gazans have no running water and up to 97 percent of the running water in Gaza is too polluted to drink. This humanitarian crisis could easily devolve into a serious public health crisis, like a cholera epidemic, that political borders cannot contain. Israel and the Palestinian authority must work together to ensure sufficient energy and water flows to Gaza.
We believe that the status quo is unsustainable – the blockade on Gaza, which Israel and Egypt have maintained for nearly 12 years, needs to change. The blockade has devastated Gaza’s economy and private sector: unemployment is 43.6 percent. Gaza’s youth are particularly devastated, with around 65 percent unemployed and few opportunities to build careers. The supply of food and consumer goods allowed to enter Gaza following inspection should be significantly increased to meet the population’s most basic needs.
Real change can only be created by opening Gaza to the outside world, which must be done carefully with the full participation of the Palestinian, Egyptian, and Israeli authorities. Crossing points must be secured and the tunnels should be destroyed. The possibility of constructing a port for Gaza should also be explored. These actions would weaken Hamas’s ability to strike at Israel and diminish Hamas’ resources, while also mitigating some of the desperation among the residents of Gaza.
The way things are now, additional tragic loss of life is almost guaranteed. The international community must take action.
Rep. Keith Ellison represents Minnesota’s Fifth District in the U.S. House of Representatives
Carol Hutner Winograd, M.D. is a member of J Street’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors
Brigadier-General Shmuel Tzuker, YNet News, May 27, 2018
A plan neglecting Gaza is no plan at all
Elior Levy, YNet News, April 6, 2018
The Gazan activist, Ahmed Abu Artima, whose post sparked the March of Return
Oliver Holmes & Hazem Balousha, The Guardian, April 6, 2018
Time for peaceful resistance, says Gaza’s new movement
General Eiland interview, David Horovitz, The Times of Israel, April 2, 2018
“I don’t know what IDF could do if 300,000 try to trample Gaza fence”
Leah Solomon, The Times of Israel, April 1, 2018 
If you were Gazan, what would you do?
Chemi Shalev, Haaretz, March 31, 2018
Analysis : Gaza Carnage Is a Victory for Hamas – and a Propaganda Nightmare for Israel
Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz, March 31, 2018
Analysis : With Riots and Live Fire, Gaza Just Went 25 Years Back in Time
Avi Issacharoff, The Times of Israel, March 31, 2018
Hamas ‘success’ on Friday presages more protests, more deaths, in more places
Gisha, March 27, 2018
Disruptions at Gaza’s crossings
Gisha, March 14, 2018
Matan Tzuri, YNet News, March 7, 2018 
Gaza perimeter agriculture in peril due to water reservoir contamination
Gisha, February 14, 2018
“Open a commercial crossing in the north of the Gaza Strip immediately”
Amira Hass, Haaretz, February 12, 2018
Opinion : Lieberman Is Right, There’s No Crisis in Gaza – This Is Disaster Extracts :
“When senior officials of the Palestinian Authority, particularly Mahmoud Abbas, speak about the “State of Palestine,” which has been recognized by the United Nations, it includes the Gaza Strip. Gaza is needed for their political narrative, but in practice those officials show indifference to the fate of Gaza’s citizens.
A shortage of 40 percent of the medicines in Gaza’s public health system is not a divine decree. Hamas and Gaza’s residents are right to accuse the Palestinian Authority of deliberately delaying shipments of medicine to pressure Hamas. This is not politically wise, either. Gazans openly criticize the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas.
The delay of shipments of medicine is not economically wise. Instead of patients being treated in the Gaza Strip, they are belatedly referred for treatment outside. The Palestinian Authority pays, and the cost comes to dozens of times the price of the medicines. What folly!
Instead of competing over who’s first at burning out medical personnel and cutting their salaries, maybe the leadership of each of the two Palestinian factions could engage in the opposite kind of competition: over who’s first at raising the salaries of medical teams out of recognition of the importance of their work, and their diligence and dedication over the years, for which they have not been rewarded?
Sosebee said a French volunteer physician came away with the impression that all doctors in the Gaza Strip are depressed; Sosebee called it an epidemic of depression. The doctors know exactly how to treat their patients but they don’t have the means. It’s a depression that’s unconnected to the partial salaries they receive, and it goes beyond the depression of two million imprisoned residents who can’t come and go from the Strip in freedom.”
Elior Levy, YNet News, February 6, 2018
Situation in Gaza approaches critical point [Security officials warn ‘situation can blow up in our face.’]
Elad Benari, Israel National News, February 1, 2018
UN envoy: Gaza on verge of ‘full collapse’
Entsar Abu Jahal, Al Monitor, January 3, 2018 [more than 73% of the seawater along the Gazan coast was contaminated last July. Only 23% of the seawater was contaminated before 2014 ]
New treatment plant to help Gaza’s wastewater crisis
Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man, +972, October 13, 2017
EU border monitors have been waiting to go back to Gaza for 10 years
United Nations Country Team in the occupied Palestinian Territory, July 2017
United Nations Report : GAZA 10 YEARS LATER
Reuters, YNet News, July 19, 2017
Gaza health care suffers as Palestinian factions play blame game
Leah Solomon, The Times of Israel, July 16, 2017 [“Where is our humanity ?”]
Gaza is burning [“Gazans are invisible; no one is interested anymore. My neighbors are burning. They are mothers, fathers, babies, young couples in love, teenagers, the elderly & infirm.“]
Adele Raemer, The Times of Israel, July 15, 2017
Wake up and smell the danger [“the truth is: Gaza is already uninhabitable — totally — by your and my standards of what we consider habitable, logical, sane“]
DPA, Haaretz, July 12, 2017
Gaza’s Last Power Plant Just Shut Down, Plunging the Strip Into Darkness [the coastal enclave in a complete blackout]
Ma’an News, July 12, 2017 [ UN Rapporteur : “We call on the international community not to turn a blind eye to Gaza”]
UN: Gaza power shortages deepening already dire humanitarian situation
Haaretz, July 12, 2017 [as little as four hours of power a day in the sweltering summer heat]
Gaza Power Watch: How Many Hours of Electricity Did Gaza Get Yesterday
Raphael Ahren, The Times of Israel, July 12, 2017 [“all of this, at the end of the day, will come back to Israel’s doorstep.“]
Top UN official Nikolay Mladenov warns Gaza electricity crisis will haunt Israel [““Of all the issues we deal with — the peace process, Palestinian institution building, the region — this is the one issue that keeps me up at night,” ]
Chloe Benoist, Ma’an News, July 12, 2017 [ UN Report : “Gaza 10 years later” ]
Interview: UN’s Robert Piper says political actors losing sight of suffering in Gaza
Almog Ben Zikri, Haaretz, July 6, 2017
Electricity Shortages in Gaza Lead to Beach Pollution Over the Border in Israel
Sari Bashi, Human Rights Watch, Middle East Eye, June 26, 2017
Elior Levy, YNet News, March 3, 2017
Volatile and dangerous: a look at the humanitarian crisis in Gaza
Reuters, YNet News, January 13, 2017
Mass protest in Gaza amid electricity crisis “There is no work, no crossings, no food, no water to drink and also there is no electricity,”
Ayelett Shani, Haaretz, January 7, 2017
Israeli witness in Gaza: No water, no electricity and children dying unnecessarily
Jack Khoury, Haaretz, January 7, 2017
With Only Three Hours of Electricity a Day, Gaza Is ‘On Verge of Explosion’
Amira Hass, Haaretz, December 16, 2016
Gaza Water Crisis Has Caused Irreversible Damage, World Bank Warns
Hanine Nassan, Al Jazeera, May 15, 2014
Open Gaza’s seaport, end the blockade
Annotated Martin Luther King Bilingual Books
This collection of extracts was born from a "chance" meeting in war-torn Bosnia, during their civil war, aggravated by foreign powers (Germany, the United States, Al Qaeda jihadis). On the road to Mostar, Jenny Hales, from Sheffield, England, a peace activist in her mid-seventies, had this copy of The Words of Martin Luther King in her purse, she kept it with her everywhere she went. She had been to Iraq, on the border with Kuwait, before the American devastating campaign, in 1991, with a hundred others like her. They were all peace-loving men and women, who thought their presence on the border would stop the Americans from invading Iraq – that was the Gulf War.
This sort of activism could work. When we tried it in the summer of 1993, in Sarajevo, it did prevent the U.S. from bombing the outskirts of Sarajevo (held by what was left of the Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija, the Yugoslav People's Army, after the Croats had deserted it).
This time around, the Baghdad authorities anticipated a carnage, and decided to repatriate the activists to their capital, by bus. Soon after, the big bombers went into action, and it all went up in smoke, the oil wells, and so many strategical assets in Baghdad. The rest-is-history. Including the birth of the Islamic State in the American camps of prisoners of war.
Jenny also went to parts of the world where landmines had been buried. She was that sort of woman. We later met, and organized a humanitarian convoy (Humanitarna Pomoc) together. When she realized my interest in her little MLK book, she parted from it, and gave it to me. It has stayed with me ever since. And the thought grew, that it could be done again, differently, with a selection of extracts by teenagers, and it should be printed in both Arabic and Hebrew.
This was done in 2003 by a dozen high-school students from some ten countries, in France (Algeria, Cameroon, China, India, Mali, Nicaragua, Portugal, Serbia…), with the help of a few teachers, and of the municipality of the town they lived in, where the first edition (French-English) was printed. 330 little books were sold for three euros each. With the thousand euros, we had two thousand books printed in English-Arabic, and two thousand more in English-Hebrew, in Bethlehem, of a perfect quality. 10 by 15 cm.
So hail to thee, Jenny in Sheffield, wherever you may be now, in some other world… The spirit lives on.
Hail to thee, Saed Bannoura, the first translator of Martin Luther King in Arabic !
Here is a first extract. We have chosen the 7th one, about the mammoth facilities with computer minds, the gigantic industry and government, woven into intricate computerized mechanisms, for reasons that seem too obvious. Dr King wrote these premonitory thoughts in the sixties, some sixty years ago.
You could repeat his words endlessly : the human being becomes smaller as his works become bigger…
What we sometimes call "the system" leaves the person outside.
The sens of participation is lost, and the human being becomes separated and diminished.
When that happens, and individuals are no longer paticipants, no longer feel a sense of responsibility to the society they live in, the content of democracy is emptied, i.e. democracy is dying.
Inexorably, when the whole social system spreads vulgarity and substandards of education, society loses it soul, and people are pulled away from what they perceive as a soulless society, leading to their alienation. The most pervasive, insidious development around us.
Read in The Jerusalem Post, on April 19, 2024 :
Israeli official security and governmental sources told The Jerusalem Post on Friday: "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Israel retaliated where they were attacked.”
What Dr King said, in 1958 :
Violence […] is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert.
In the case of the confrontation Iran vs Israel, it seeks neither to annihilate nor to convert. It is rather a game, a contest, between economic entities :
AIO vs IAI/Boeing. Aerospace Industries Organization in Tehran vs Israel Aerospace Industries (Israel) / Boeing (US). AIO producing the Emad balistic missiles, IAI producing the anti-missiles Arrow 3, with help from Boeing. Boeing ranking n°4 worldwide among the MWM, Major Weapon Manufacturers, 44% of its revenue coming from weapon manufacturing and exporting.
Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_industry
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If and when we re-edit this Little Red Book, we shall not start with this first passage as a warning : "You have not started living until…" You have no wish to rebuke people from the first line, do you. As if to say, "Look, fellow, your life has been nul and empty, so far, stuck as you've been in your individualistic concerns". This kind of thinking was surely welcome in Baptist churches in the Deep South, and that was some sixty-five years ago, but what of the rest of the world, today, what of us in the twenty-first century ?
Yet, he is making a point, although not too subtly, a point that was made before him by Immanuel Kant, it seems, as far back as 1784, in his manifesto about Aufklärung, Enlightenment. Enlightenment being, in Kant's words, a human being's "emergence from one's self-imposed immaturity".
"Immaturity is the inability to use one’s understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. Sapere Aude! * “Have courage to use your own understanding!”–that is the motto of enlightenment." * “Dare to Know!” (Horace)
For the eighteenth century philosopher, lack of courage, lack of resolve, are the chief causes of our misfortunes. He soon makes it clear : "Laziness and cowardice are the reasons why so great a proportion of men, long after nature has released them from alien guidance nonetheless gladly remain in lifelong immaturity, and why it is so easy for others to establish themselves as their guardians. It is so easy to be immature."
What makes the matter a bit more tricky is Kant's refutation of "alien guidance" : " If I have a book to serve as my understanding, a pastor to serve as my conscience, a physician to determine my diet for me, and so on, I need not exert myself at all." No book, no pastor, no diet-prescriber, therefore. No imam, no rabbi, no holy man.
Hum. Is the point clear enou, but, agh, Think for yourself, use your own understanding, but don't confine yourself in some ivory tower, mute and aloof.
22/4/24. When you read this second passage, binary as its, Light vs Darkness, you may react to a judgemental, preachifying King ("This is the judgement"), but, again, this was the Sixties (sixty years ago), in "black" churches of the South, the deep South, and the man was a pastor, preaching to his congregation, his people.
His question remains, as valid in 2024 as in 1964 : what are we doing, what am I doing, now, for others ?
Third passage : Dr King put service before and above all else. As opposed to self-service, and greed.
We may not agree with his praise of ignorance as a virtue – to make your subject and your verb agree is part of what enables people to understand each other – but "a heart full of grace", with the will to serve others, to help them, support them, is the key to mutual peace in his vision.
Fourth passage : We all have our favorite parts, and this one certainly is candidate. The sort of thought you like to repeat, again and again : All individuals are interdependent. Come what may. Whether we realize or not, we're in debt. We owe rank strangers an awful lot. And may need to draw our own updated list of small concrete debts.
My towel was made in USA. My soap comes from Aleppo, Syria. I drink coffee harvested by Peruvians, tea collected by Indians. My Ovomaltine comes from Switzerland. The oranges were picked by Spaniards. The cane from which my sugar was made was grown by Brazilians. What a delightful way to start a day : with all these people, from the USA, from Syria, from Peru, from India, from Switzerland, Spain, Brazil, actually pouring their labour and smiles into my life…
As for my clothes, my cotton trousers, my t-shirt and shirt were made by Indians, my socks by the Irish, my Idaho jacket by the Chinese…
RAFAH devastated and razed early 2024
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More than one million people were displaced from the North of the Gaza Strip His father is an English teacher in university in Gaza City |
What will they find when they go home ? When will they be able to go home ? |
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April 29, 2024. Living in exile.
Why did you decide to leave Gaza now? “I’ll say it in the simplest of words – I don’t want to die.”
The home Dr Abu Saada has left behind is still standing, but “there’s a lot of damage to the house – doors have come off, windows have been smashed. the furniture’s moved around and has been broken. My son Alaa’s apartment, on the other hand – only 50 meters away, has been completely destroyed and has been turned into a pile of shattered stones.”
How would you describe the atmosphere in Gaza? “Despair. Gaza won’t be able to go back to what it was before the war. There’s a lot of anger toward Israel and Hamas. I couldn’t even say who people are angrier with. We, the uninvolved civilians, are paying the terrible price for the war. On second thoughts, I can say that the anger toward Hamas is greater because of the destruction, the killing, people missing under destroyed buildings, the wounded, the hospitals that can’t operate, the doctors and nurses who’ve fled, and the terrible shortage of food and medication.”
What do you think about what happened on October 7? “At first, we didn’t know what really happened, just rumors. But when we gradually got the whole picture, we were shocked about the killing of Israeli civilians. For Hamas, there are no innocent Israeli civilians. And now we’re all victims of what happened there – Gazan civilians too. It wouldn’t be right to say that all Gazan citizens are Hamas. What have I got to do with them? I’ve never met anyone from Hamas. They’re usually underground and we’re in our homes.”
‘We hate Hamas like we hate Israel’ The Times of Israel, Smadar Perry interview
May 8, 2024. A message from Rafah.
“Displaced in a different place. Still in Rafah.
Sad week and days. One of my sisters passed away, and another lost two of her children. Killed in Rafah, and her third child is seriously wounded.”
Jason Burke, Malak A Tantesh, The Guardian, May 8, 2024
Rafah hospitals in danger of being overwhelmed, say Gaza doctors
Netta Ahituv, Haaretz, May 9, 2024
The Chilling Testimony of a U.S. Neurosurgeon Who Went to Gaza to Save Lives
“The first thing you see in Rafah,” he relates, “is miles and miles of hanging fabrics – the tents of the displaced people, which are erected against the background of the ruins of buildings. When you turn onto Saladin Road, which is the main road connecting Gaza’s north and south, suddenly you see an ocean of people. These are the displaced people who live there now. As you get closer to the hospital, you see more and more people, and more and more tents.”
The water situation there worries me the most, and since returning for the first time, I have talked about water sanitation everywhere and with everyone I can. We lost many patients due to water-related infections.”
“In the process, we discovered that there weren’t enough anesthetics, not enough equipment and not even clean water to wash our hands between operations. Sometimes there were no gloves and sometimes we lacked basic medicines. We were compelled to perform limb amputations without anesthetics and C-sections without sedatives. In order to do as much as we could, we would operate on two patients at the same time in the same operating room.”
“During the night, it was not possible to rescue anyone from the ruins, both because there was no electricity and everything was dark, and also because just being outside was dangerous. So people who were wounded during the night remained where they were until morning. Many of them died from loss of blood or reached us in worse condition because they did not receive immediate treatment. Every morning around 8, a wave of wounded people arrived who had been rescued from the ruins of the night. At that point, around nine out of 10 of them could not be saved.
“From a medical point of view, I remember a boy of maybe 12 or 13 years old, who arrived with bleeding from his eye, from being hit by shrapnel. It was clear that he needed surgery, but there was a two-hour line for the operating room. During the wait, a main artery burst inside his brain and blood began spurting from his eye. I’d never seen anything like that before. He died, of course.
“From a humanitarian point of view, I remember a boy about 2 years old who was seriously hurt by a bomb. He arrived together with many other children who had been in the same house. The moment I saw him I knew we would not be able to save him, so I had to give the only oxygen canister that was available to another wounded child, who had a better chance of surviving. He was alone, with no one by his side as he was dying. I took a picture of him with the phone and went out to see if anyone knew his relatives. I was told that his whole family was buried under the ruins, and that he was the only one who had been pulled out. I decided that this child would not die without someone noticing and crying over him, and I realized that it would have to be me. I held him to me, I cried over him and I named him ‘Jacob.’ I vowed that if I have a son, I will name him ‘Jacob’ in his memory.”
The noise of a one-ton bomb is deafening. The first time one was dropped nearby, I happened to be standing on a stool, and I fell off, because the building shook so hard. It went on like that every five or 10 minutes. I asked the local doctors what to do, and they told me that you get used to it and that I should just keep working to distract myself from the anxiety.”
…/…“That’s how I came to understand that it wasn’t enough to bring food, water and medical equipment to Gaza. It’s also necessary to bring into being authority figures to organize the distribution. That’s another one of my projects now: to bring apolitical organizations into Gaza, groups that won’t deal with cease-fires and agreements, but only with organizing and managing the distribution of humanitarian aid.”
August 19, 2024. We shall not forget. Causes and effects.
Women Wage Peace from Nir Oz & Be’eri to Jordan & Nazareth 2017
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| Sderot, just a mile from Gaza… | across the foot-bridge in the desert | ||
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LIFE UNDER THE GUN : Beersheba station after a terror attack in the North |
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| The Journey to Peace at Abraham's Well, and at Jerusalem Central Station, on an ordinary day… | |||
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| From Qumran to Nazareth, via the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee and the Mount of Beatitudes… | |||
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| In the streets of Nazareth… | |||
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| From Nazareth to Jaffa… | |||
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| In the Desert, under the sign of Hagar and Sara | |||
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| Last evening in Jerusalem… | |||
THE JERUSALEM – NABLUS CALL 2024-2025
to be published
From the end of 2023 to the end of 2024 there have been several calls for a lasting cessation of hostilities, some of them launched from Jerusalem and Nablus. Strangely, only a handful of Nobel laureates supported them. One of these calls was broadcast in May 2024 :
THE JERUSALEM AND NABLUS CALL FOR THE RELEASE OF ALL HOSTAGES
Halas ! Khlass ! Hebrew like Arabic : ENOUGH !
Enough torture for the hostages and their families !
Enough torture for the displaced, Israelis and Palestinians !
Let them all go home now, to heal the wounds.
Eighteen countries* call for the immediate release of all hostages held in Gaza, starting with the women, the wounded, the elderly, the sick.
The fate of the hostages and the civilian population in Gaza has become one.
With the eighteen we whole-heartedly support the ongoing negotiations.
“We’re talking about people, and we all need to act, right now, to end this story.”**
- Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States
- in one of the hostages’ parent’s words