We must speak now: Palestinians in Rafah are in terror

First published in the Honolulu Star Advertiser 2/15/2024. Republished here with permission.

The US Administration finally appears to be recognizing that Israel’s war of revenge for the attack by Hamas on October 7 may be “over the top,” to use President Biden’s words. Breaking out of the “open air prison” that is Gaza, where their lives had been policed for decades, Hamas killed several hundred Israelis and took up to 240 hostages. Israel’s response to that terrible day has been described by many as self-destructive.

Now Israeli air strikes are aimed at Rafah. Netanyahu’s promise of “safe passage for the civilian population” rings hollow for the more than one million Palestinians who fled from North to South Gaza, and then again to Rafah. Too many lost their lives to Israeli attacks doing so.  Independent observers tell us that there is no safe place in Gaza. 

Palestinians have long suffered apartheid policies, IDF and settler violence in the lands where they live under Israeli domination. Will those elected to represent Hawaii, a place of indigenous resistance to colonization, still remain silent in the face of Israel’s continued efforts at ethnic cleansing?  

The civilian death toll in Gaza approaches 30,000, 11,500 of them children. Thousands more lie under the rubble. Among the casualties: at least 85 journalists and media workers, most of them Palestinian, and more than 300 health care workers.

Between October 7 and December 15, Israel dropped 29,000 bombs. Hawaii’s yearly contribution to the $3.8 billion the United States gives annually to Israel is an estimated $13 million. Yes, we are helping to foot the bill for the bombs being dropped on Gaza.

Can we continue to accept being complicit in the taking of so many innocent lives? Can we stay silent because advocating for peace is called “antisemitism?”  The calls made to our Congressional delegation, to County mayors, to the Governor to push for a ceasefire so far have gone unheard.

Are we really okay with the thousands of children being killed, maimed or left orphaned by Israel’s assault on a territory it controls? How is the bombing of 11,500 children consistent with Hawaii’s culture of aloha?

Doctors Without Borders have warned that “without access to food, clean water, shelter, and health services, Palestinians also face a heightened risk of disease and starvation. … the few hospitals that remain operational are overwhelmed and lack essential medical supplies that can save lives.”

Do our Representatives in Washington not hear the anguished calls for a ceasefire?  This is needed to pave the way for the freeing of all hostages held by Gaza militants (those still alive and held since Oct. 7) and the thousands from the West Bank and East Jerusalem held by Israel in ‘administrative detention’ with no due process. The values we hold dear should prompt us to support ending the toxic legacies of settler colonialism. 

The German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer lost his life fighting the Nazi regime. He taught that “Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

The Palestinians in Rafah are already under assault.  The least we can do is speak up for them now.

A few hundred Honolulu residents gathered at the intersection of busy Ala Moana Boulevard and Atkinson Drive on Saturday 2/17/24 from 3-6 p.m. to repeat their calls for a ceasefire as Israel ramps up its assault on Rafah. The sign to Waikiki was overshadowed by Palestinian flags and dozens of placards held by demonstrators urging everyone to protest the unfolding genocide in Gaza and the use of our tax dollars to pay for the bombs that have already killed over 12,000 children in Gaza. Several motorists signaled their agreement as they drove past by honking their horns and raising their arms in solidarity.

Bionotes