In September, I attended the wedding of my friend Yousef Aljamal. Aljamal is a Palestinian researcher in Middle Eastern Studies and a journalist, author, and translator. He is from the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, where dozens of his family lived.
Yousef married Lisa, an American from Long Island. Muslims, Jews, Christians, and secular human rights activists attended this joyous wedding at a mosque in Brooklyn, New York. In this gathering it was possible to imagine what life could be in Israel/Palestine if Western powers demanded an end to Israeli apartheid as we once did in response to South African apartheid.
On Oct. 15, Yousef informed me that Israeli warplanes targeted a residential building in the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp where dozens of his family members lived, killing nine of them. Among the victims were Azmi Aljamal, 63, a retired nurse; his wife Hanan, 60, and their sons and daughters, Mustaff, 33; Suad, 36, and Sondos, 28. Three of their grandchildren, Omar, Mustafa, and Jana, were also killed along with their niece Ola, 33.
Last month, I attended a press conference in front of Sen. Chris Murphy’s office to call for a ceasefire. Khamis Abu-Hasaballah originally from Gaza was also in attendance. Abu-Hasaballah is the co-founder and President of the Farmington Valley American Muslim Center and the Assistant Vice President for Academic IT at UConn Health Center. He has six sisters and brothers in Gaza. Twelve members of Khamis’ family are among the thousands of innocent civilians killed by Israel.
Connecticut resident Rawan Shehadeh, also present at the press conference, lost nine members of her family when Israel bombed the Mahdi Hospital in Gaza City on Nov. 11. Among her family members killed by Israeli with U.S. supplied bombs were Mira Mahdi, age 13; Muhammad Mahdi, age 15; Abdel Alrahman Mahdi, age 17 who dreamed of being a doctor; Amer Mahdi, age 19, a college student; Ahmad Mahdi age 21, college student; Yousif Mahdi, age 22, a college student; Dr. Sameer Mahdi, dentist, age 24; Dr. Basil Mahdi, OBGYN, age 50; Dr. Raed Mahdi, OBGYN, age 53 and his wife, age 45.
Numerous statements by Israeli leaders compel the conclusion that Israel’s assault is a genocidal war against the Palestinian people.
Israeli Minister of Defense Yoave Gallant declared on Oct. 9: “We are imposing a complete siege on Gaza: no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we will act accordingly.”
Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on Oct. 10: “Gaza will eventually turn into a city of tents. There will be no buildings” . . . “the emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to turn Gaza “into rubble.”
In a document titled “Israel’s Decisive Plan,” Bezalel Smotrich, now the Israeli Minister of Finance, denies the Palestinian right to self-determination and promotes the establishment of a single sovereign Jewish Nation State between the River and the Sea. In October 2021, Smotrich stated “The state of Israel will no longer be able to put up with the existence of an independent entity in Gaza.” Prime Minister Netanyahu has tasked Ron Dermer, Israel’s minister of Strategic Affairs with designing plans to “thin” the Palestinian population in Gaza “to a minimum.”
Between Oct. 9 and Nov. 13, Israel dropped more than 20,000 tons of explosives on Gaza, an area twice the size of Washington D.C. Following the seven-day pause which began Nov. 24 and ended Dec. 1, Israel resumed its genocidal assault on Gaza. The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reports that Dec. 2 marked the bloodiest day since Oct. 7, resulting in over 1,000 people killed, wounded, or reported missing.
Israel’s assault on the Gazan population, nearly half of whom are children under the age of 18, continues unabated. As of Dec. 27, The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reports 29,124 Palestinians killed, of which 11,422 and 5,822 are children and women. These numbers include those presumed dead under the rubble of homes, hospitals, and schools destroyed by Israel. Nearly 87 percent of Gaza’s 2.2 million population have been displaced, many living without shelter or in tents, and without access to medical care, sufficient food, and water, facing disease, starvation, and death.
The people of Gaza will not suffer another wholesale displacement to the Sinai from their homes in Gaza. They have repeatedly stated that “Heaven is closer than Sinai” a sentiment not unlike that once championed by America in out early history — “Give me Liberty or Give Me Death.”
In the face of this ongoing genocide, the Biden Administration and Congress refuse to call for a ceasefire. They continue to provide Israel with the military weapons utilized in these war crimes. Israel’s strategy to which the Biden Administration and Congress remain complicit will only lead to more death, destruction, and insecurity for the people between the River and the Sea. It risks greater regional war.
History will judge harshly those who remain silent to this ongoing injustice and carnage.
John Fussell is a retired attorney from West Hartford.