| A moral fatigue and paralysis seems to have overtaken much of the world. Individuals, organizations and institutions seem to have reached the end of their credulity and ability to be outraged at the ongoing genocide in the Middle East. We protest, hold sit-ins, challenge politicians, appeal to international tribunals, yet it seems nothing works. Every single day we hear of another massacre: 100, or 60, or 90 Palestinian men, women and children killed in a school or shelter, and more are asked to evacuate. A recent report by the United Nations found that: “Israel’s warfare in Gaza is consistent with the characteristics of genocide, with mass civilian casualties and life-threatening conditions intentionally imposed on Palestinians there.” It went on to say “through its siege over Gaza, obstruction of humanitarian aid, alongside targeted attacks and killing of civilians and aid workers, despite repeated UN appeals, binding orders from the International Court of Justice and resolutions of the Security Council, Israel is intentionally causing death, starvation and serious injury, using starvation as a method of war and inflicting collective punishment on the Palestinian population.” Yet even in this horrible atmosphere, what is happening in the North of Gaza seems to be of a qualitatively deeper level of immorality: A plan, publicly known as “the Generals’ Plan,” is being implemented in the Northern part of Gaza. According to that plan, the entire area is to be declared hostile. The population is to be forcibly evicted, and those who remain or refuse to leave will be “presumed to be Hamas terrorists.” Not only will the area be incessantly bombed, but no food, water, medical supplies, or fuel would be allowed into that area. Buildings will be systematically leveled, and the population will not be allowed to return. Those who remain will die of starvation, dehydration, and disease until no one is left. The hospitals will be evacuated, then bombed as well. While the Israeli government, officially, has not endorsed the plan, it has been acting specifically according to each of its elements. They seem to move with total impunity. All the protests, marches, decisions of the international tribunals, and worldwide outcries seem to count for nothing. The last obstacle to full implementation of this demonic plan may have been the ultimatum given by the Biden administration to Israel in a letter issued over 30 days ago, which described with great specificity the actions that Israel needed to take to allow food, water and supplies into the North of Gaza (numbers of trucks, etc…). Otherwise, the letter warned, under US law, the Biden administration will be forced to cut military aid to Israel specifically because it failed to allow US aid agencies to carry out their humanitarian tasks in that area. Whatever hopes existed that such a step would be actually taken by the administration in its lame duck months has now been officially smashed. The White House has just announced that even though Israel has failed to fulfill its obligations, the Biden administration will not consider any such cutoff of military supplies. Most of us were not actually holding our breath, but this step seems to be the final nail in the coffin of Joe Biden’s legacy as an enabler of Genocide and as the President who failed to follow his own statements or to apply the minimal requirements of US law in preventing the genocide. Meanwhile, the “Generals’ Plan” is in full swing. No food has been allowed to those remaining in the North for a whole month. The hospitals have been vacated and made inoperable, the remaining population corralled and pushed out, being ordered never to return. Almost all buildings have been leveled to the ground, and the entire area is being prepared to be a military base, and maybe a new Jewish settlement. One could say that those who put their trust in Washington politicians were doomed to be disappointed. Not that Trump offers any greater basis for optimism. Under the incoming administration, we already have hints, based on the appointments Trump has made, that worse things may yet come to pass. Mike Huckabee, an avowed Christian Zionist, has just been tapped as new US Ambassador to Israel. He has publicly stated that Israel has a biblical title to “Judea & Samaria,” has indicated there is no such thing as “occupation,” and said that “settlements” are just perfectly legal Israeli neighborhoods and towns. For him, Palestinians do not exist as a people and should move out of the way for Israel to fulfill its divinely mandated destiny. Other significant appointments seem equally dismissive of Palestinian rights or international law. It is important for those of us who believe in justice not to abandon hope and to continue to work for justice and peace. Our hope is not built on politicians, or the results of presidential elections, but on the assurance and faith in God’s sovereignty and in the eventual victory of good over evil. Perhaps this is an opportunity to better appreciate our prophetic voice, of “speaking truth to power,” as we also raise our lament and prayers for God’s intervention, even as we increase our efforts, however meager, to sustain hope and diminish the suffering involved. |
