Date: 2025-08-21 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00027302
MIDDLE EAST
PALESTINE / GAZA
Nation-of-Change-Gaza’s agony intensifies: Six months of carnage calls for global
intervention ... 'Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.
PALESTINE / GAZA
Nation-of-Change-Gaza’s agony intensifies: Six months of carnage calls for global
intervention ... 'Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.
Antonio Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees speaks during a press conference
at the Launch of the Regional Flash Appeal Following recent events in Libyan Arab Jamahiri
Original article: https://www.nationofchange.org/2024/04/08/gazas-agony-intensifies-six-months-of-carnage-calls-for-global-intervention/
Peter Burgess COMMENTARY
I have been a reasonably well informed observer of international affairs for my whole life and after many decades I am truly disappointed at the appalling behavior of a lot of the top decision makers on the planet.
I grew up in the UK during WWII and the immediate post-war years. I was English, growing up in England and exposed to the BBC and newspapers like the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Times. I was white and very 'middle class'. Looking back, I am surprised at how little about the world I knew, even though I had a very 'good education'. With a lifetime of learning, I am surprised now by how little I really knew ... even though I knew a lot more than most of my contemporaries.
Even though I had a 'good' education ... the Blundell's boarding school followed by Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge where I studied engineering and economics (a double major). The good news is that my education did not stop with university graduation but continued and actually accelerated over the following 6 decades or so! Looking back ... the education of my youth, merely set me up for a lifetime of learning! Now ... well into my 80's, I understand the value of my learning. That is the good part! Looking around me, I am very concerned that my journey of learning is unusual, and most people have not been as fortunate.
The situation in the Middle East has degraded over the months since September 7th 2023 when a group of Hamas men attacked Israelies near the border with Gaza. About 1700 Israelis were killed and around 300 taken captive. Since then in a period of around 9 months, the Israeli military have killed about 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza ... and destroyed a huge proportion of the civilian houses, hospitals and essential urban infrastructure ... and there is no end in sight.
I have been a 'supporter' of Israel since I learned about the Holocaust and the Nazis in the 1930s and during WWII in the 1940s in Germany. I am appalled at the behavior of the Israelis during the past several months since September 7th ... and I understand very much why Palestinians in the United States are furious with the way in which the Gaza situation has evolved.
I have written elsewhere about my thinking on diverse communities living together successfully ... sadly missing in many different parts of the world. Compromise is NOT a dirty word!
Peter Burgess
'Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.'
By Jordan Atwood - NationofChange
April 8, 2024
The enclave of Gaza, embroiled in a harrowing conflict, has reached a grim milestone: six months since the onset of Israel’s fierce military retaliation following the Hamas-led October 7 attacks. This half-year mark brings into sharp relief the catastrophic human toll and the urgent necessity for a ceasefire and humanitarian aid to alleviate the suffering of Gaza’s beleaguered populace
The Israeli campaign, executed by air, land, and sea, has inflicted a devastating toll on Palestinian civilians. Over 116,000 lives have been either lost or irrevocably altered due to injuries, with countless victims feared entombed beneath the wreckage of their annihilated homes. The stark figures paint a chilling picture of the scale of destruction, unparalleled in recent history.
Amidst the chaos, Israel’s stringent control over aid access exacerbates an already dire situation. The blockade has led to acute shortages of essential supplies, pushing Gaza to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. The most vulnerable, particularly children, face the grim reality of starvation, a situation United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres deems “incomprehensible and entirely avoidable.”
The mass displacement witnessed, with approximately 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants forced from their homes, draws haunting parallels to the 1948 Nakba—the ethnic cleansing episode that accompanied the birth of the state of Israel. The obliteration of Gaza’s infrastructure, requiring an estimated $18.5 billion for reconstruction, sheds light on the enduring scars of this conflict on the region’s socio-economic fabric.
The international legal community, including the International Court of Justice, has voiced concerns that Israel’s actions might constitute genocide, intensifying calls for accountability and justice. The staggering death toll, combined with the perilous conditions faced by humanitarian aid workers, of whom 196 have been killed, underscores the imperative for international intervention.
Guterres’s appeal for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” resonates with a global audience, mirroring the sentiments of peace and human rights advocates worldwide. Demonstrations across major cities, from the streets of Tel Aviv to the avenues of New York, echo a unified demand for an end to the violence and the safeguarding of Palestinian lives.
Amidst escalating tensions, President Joe Biden’s dialogue with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hints at a possible shift toward de-escalation, with Biden urging concrete measures to mitigate civilian suffering. The U.S.’s continued provision of military aid to Israel, however, remains a contentious issue, complicating diplomatic efforts for peace.
“Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” said Guterres.