Israel's Latest Massacre
Israel has responded to the ICJ ruling by setting a tent camp in Rafah ablaze, scorching bodies, and decapitating babies. Judges at the top United Nations court had ordered Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah and withdraw from the enclave, in a case that was brought on by South Africa, rightfully accused Israel of genocide. Application for arrest warrants has also been put into motion by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. With the arrest warrants supposedly being put into motion and the UN court ordering the halt of weapons, Israel continues its assault and indiscriminate murdering of Palestinians. Israel continues its senseless killing in its latest massacre, proving that Israel is above international law and has the power to not listen to the UN court and not face any consequences. In an interview with MSNBC, President Biden said invading Rafah would be his “red line” for Netanyahu, then he confusingly added he would not “leave Israel.” Although this is not confusing, it displays that Biden does not want to hold Israel accountable for their ongoing genocide. He goes on to say, “The defense of Israel is still critical, so there’s no red line [where] I’m going to cut off all weapons so they don’t have the Iron Dome to protect them” (in reference to Israel’s missile defense system). President Biden intentionally misled the public by making contradictory remarks that invading Rafah would be the red line, but then he said there was no actual red line where he would completely abandon them. Biden has a repeated pattern of pretending to establish imaginary red lines that he will go on to violate because those supposed lines were never there to begin with. He said it himself: there is no point where he will completely cut all weapons to Israel so they could continue to “defend” themselves against displaced Palestinians living in tents with minimal access to food and water. Similarly, he had remarked he would halt some shipments of weapons to Israel and had also acknowledged they had been used to kill civilians. But has been repeatedly shelling out billions of dollars to Israel.
But, nothing came from President Biden’s faux promises of halting only some weapons used on displaced Palestinians living in refugee camps and hospitals and admittance that weapons were used against civilians. I find it appalling that Biden would frame some Palestinians as civilians because it further perpetuates the belief that Palestinians are “terrorists.” The narrative of Arab people being “terrorists” has been used as a catalyst to justify colonial projects and give credence to Western interests in the region. After Biden had deceitfully remarked that he would halt only some weapons if Rafah was targeted. With the latest massacre leaving people burned alive and babies without heads, he has yet to condemn Israel (as I write this). A video captured by videographer and photographer Mohammed Abo Mostafa on Instagram depicts a Palestinian man holding the body of a decapitated baby surrounded by fire. US officials and Western news outlets ran with the baseless claim of Hamas beheading babies. Where are they now? Their outrage is selective and will only appear when it fits the United States’ interests. Biden previously had stated he was “outraged” over the death of several workers from Workers Central Kitchen. His acknowledgment of the kitchen works proves that Westerner’s deaths only receive “rage.” However, even then, Biden only offered lip service and did not take any measures to hold Israel accountable. In his statement, he claimed, “Israel pledged to conduct a thorough investigation into why the aid workers’ vehicles were hit by airstrikes.” However, an investigation by Al Jazeera’s Sanad Verification Agency discovered the Israeli army attack was intentional we heard nothing from President Biden, Antony Blinken, etc. Where was Biden when the Flour Massacre happened or when several mass graves were uncovered all across the Gaza Strip? Where was his fictitious rage? Democrats nor Republicans will lead to the path of liberation; both are imperialist and colonialist parties serving the ruling class’s interest. Genocide needs to be our red line, and we should never vote for these people again. But voting is not our cure, and we cannot vote ourselves out of a genocidal government; we need to make our voices heard.
On May 26, 2024, Israeli forces bombed a tent camp that housed displaced people in a “safe area,” killing mostly women and children. Forty-five people, including 23 women, children, and elderly, were killed in the attack, and 249 others were wounded. The attack took place in the Tal As-Sultan neighborhood, in which thousands of displaced Palestinians sought refuge after Israel began its ground invasion of Rafah. The death toll is expected to rise after many were left with severe burns and remained in critical condition. This attack transpired after Israel had been heavily bombing and targeting shelters where displaced Palestinians lived, most recently being Jabalia, in which Israeli troops and tanks killed 15 Palestinians. Now horrifying scenes emerge of an Israeli Airstrike burning dozens of people alive in their sleep. Bodies were charred and burned, while those who sustained injuries lost limbs due to the potential usage of internationally prohibited weapons. A survivor recounts the terror they saw to Al Jazeera: “They burned people alive… They burned an entire block in Tal as-Sultan.” This attack has marked the 10th Israeli assault on a displacement center affiliated with the UN in the course of 24 hours (referring to the day of May 26), and over 190 people have been killed in the attacks.
Fire tore through the tens, burning people alive as they slept, sending tents and shelters ablaze. The scene was filled with weeping and people praying beside bodies in shrouds. Social media has been filled with images of charred and dismembered women, children, and men (I encourage everyone to please look at Mohammed Abo Mostafa’s Instagram account). “The whole world is witnessing Rafah getting burned up by Israel, and no one is doing anything to stop it,” Bassam, a Rafah resident, said via a chat app. Another resident describes the disturbing imagery of what they saw, “The air strikes burnt the tents, the tents are melting and the people’s bodies are also melting.” A Palestinian girl named Layan al-Fayoum describes the trauma she witnessed to Middle East Eye, “We were sitting down in peace when we suddenly heard the explosion…It was so sudden. The bombs came down without a warning…The flames were huge…We saw tents on fire and then had to recover dismembered limbs and dead children.” When Layan al-Fayoum exited her tent, she was terrified to be met by the large inferno that had engulfed the camp. After it was alleged by Israel that two resistance members were killed in the attack, displaced Palestinian Mohammad Abo Sebah dispelled that lie, “We have never seen any resistance fighters here. The fighters are in the combat zones in eastern Rafah…The Israelis just say these things to justify their actions. They want to kill the Palestinian people, forcibly expel them, and destroy their homes… There’s no safe place here. No one is safe. Not even the dead who are buried underground are safe…Destruction, corpses, and killings. This is our life.” Mohammad Abo Sebah became displaced when his home was bombed by Israeli warplanes back in November that killed two of his sons, his daughter, and a two-year-old toddler. He came to Rafah hoping to find safety. As we know, Israel lied about “safe zones”. No Palestinian is safe. Palestinian people are not numbers; we must remember their story with honor.
This is the reality of Palestinians since 1948: living in constant fear surrounded by death and colonial violence, trapped in an inescapable cycle of trauma that will impact generations of Palestinians. Netanyahu responded by describing the massacre as a “tragic mistake,” which the Western media ate up. Because, of course, this was another of Israel’s “mistakes”, who is allowed to commit war crimes for the whole world to see but walk away scot-free with blood on their hands. Another massacre just took place in al-Mawasi, killing 21 people, 13 of them women and girls, in another so-called “safe area.” Please check Bisan Owada’s Instagram page to hear her cover the event. Let’s see if Israel attempts to pass this off as another “mistake.” It is disgusting to see the Western world and Israel’s allies do nothing as Palestinians are murdered in cold blood in the most gruesome ways possible. Let us get one thing straight: burning people alive in their sleep is not self-defense, bombing displaced families living in tents is not self-defense, and bombing hospitals is not self-defense; we are witnessing a genocide unfold before our very eyes. This is done when you want to erase a population. The framing I hear of the genocide is wretched; it is not a conflict or a war; this is the colonial entity of Israel is continuing a settler-colonial project responsible for ethnically cleansing over 700,000 Palestinians and trapping them in bits of territory.
There’s a line of settler-colonial ideologies to justify the stealing of land and subjecting the native populations to colonial violence. Britain, Spain, Portugal, and other colonial entities used similar ideas that Israel has a record of using, like the idea that God gave the colonizers the right to “civilize” their subjects. Early Zionists like Theodor Herzl wrote about how he planned on civilizing the Arab populations who wrote the following in The Jewish State: We should there form a portion of a rampart of Europe against Asia, an outpost of civilization as opposed to barbarism. We should as a neutral State remain in contact with all Europe, which would have to guarantee our existence.” The rhetoric Zionists use mirrors Manifest Destiny for a reason, capitalism relies on constant expansion with that an inevitable reliance on colonialism to increase wealth and power of colonial powers. We cannot rely on the United States or any of its allies to end this genocide. Palestinian people are having their trauma and violence broadcasted for the whole world to see. Yesterday, the world watched as displaced Palestinians were forced to dig through human remains with their hands, looking for bodies and injured people. We should be outraged that no one is doing anything.
“You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all of the time.” — Angela Davis
It is now on us to change the world and urge Israel’s occupation to end and for a truly free Palestine.
