The Latest:
- Gaza death toll hits 227, including 64 children and over 1,600 injuries, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health; 29 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank
- 10 Israeli casualties, including two children; two Thai nationals
-updated 4:40 pm GMT
Video: Worldwide protests in solidarity with Palestine
The BDS Movement released the following video marking the worldwide protests that have taken place in solidarity with Palestine over the past week and call on the international community to keep up the pressure:
In the struggle to end South African apartheid, global solidarity forced policymakers to take action.
There, apartheid was thrown into the dustbin of history. Dismantling Israeli apartheid is now #InOurHands!
We call on ???, everywhere, to intensify your meaningful solidarity. Mobilize in your community, country, or internationally to end complicity in Israeli apartheid, strengthening the struggle for justice in Palestine and globally.
Challenging Israeli apartheid is #InOurHands!
Israeli attacks cripple Gaza health sector
The following statement by the Palestine Ministry of Health on the impact of Israeli attacks on the Gaza health sector was shared on a WhatsApp group for journalists:
Gaza: Dr. Salha critically injured by Israeli airstrikes.
Dr. Salha is being treated in the Shifa hospital after being critically injured by the Israeli bombing of the Ministry of Health facilities and Al-Rimal Primary Health care clinics on May 17. Dr. Salha provided primary care to Gaza patients. Targeting health care professionals in Gaza, like Dr. Salha, Dr. Ayman, and Dr. al-Aloul has added additional strain to provide patient services.
Dr. Salha was working as a physician, speaking on the telephone, when the Israeli bombing struck the Al-Rimal Primary Health Care Center. A piece of shrapnel struck Dr. Salha in the head, causing him to be critically injured. The ambulance was delayed in reaching Dr. Salha due to severely damaged roads leading to the Al-Rimal Primary Health Care Center. This delay caused significant blood loss for Dr. Salha, increasing the severity of his critical injuries.
The targeting of health clinics and facilities in Gaza, including the Al-Rimal Primary Health Clinic, has led to the closure of the central laboratory services, COVID-19 vaccination, pregnancy services, telemedicine, and Coronavirus testing. The suspension of these services has severely impaired the Ministry of Health’s ability to confront the COVID-19 pandemic and to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Gaza communities.
Previous Reports:
- Live blog: Palestinians stage general strike across historic Palestine (May 18, 2021)
- Live blog: Gaza death toll hits 200; Biden admin continues to block UN call for ceasefire (May 17, 2021)
- Live blog: Israel has killed 58 Palestinian children in one week of airstrikes on Gaza (May 16, 2021)
- Live blog: Israeli airstrikes target international media offices, civilian homes in Gaza (May 15, 2021)
- Live blog: U.S. blocks UN Security Council statement on conflict, and 8 Palestinians reported dead in West Bank protests (May 14, 2021)
- Live blog: Israel threatening ground invasion in Gaza, mobilizes army to police Palestinian citizens (May 13, 2021)
- Live blog: Israel kills two Palestinians in West Bank raids, Gaza death toll rises as airstrikes continue (May 12, 2021)
- Live blog: Israel levels apartment buildings, dozens dead in Gaza as Netanyahu government vows to step up strikes (May 11, 2021)
- Israel kills 20 Palestinians in Gaza, injures hundreds in Jerusalem as Al-Aqsa tensions flare (May 10, 2021)
- Hundreds injured as Israeli forces attack Palestinian worshipers in Jerusalem (May 8, 2021)
Amira Hass believes that Israel is wiping out entire families intentionally –
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/gaza-israel-wiping-entire-palestinian-families-hamas-1.9820005?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=content&utm_campaign=daily-brief&utm_content=886e42dd3a
The numerous incidents of killing entire families in Israeli bombings in Gaza – Parents and children, babies, grandparents, siblings – attest that these were not mistakes. The bombings follow a decision from higher up, backed by the approval of military jurists…Wiping out entire families in Israeli bombings was one of the characteristics of the war in 2014. In the roughly 50 days of the war then, UN figures say that 142 Palestinian families were erased (742 people in total). The numerous incidents then and today attest that these were not mistakes: and that the bombing of a house while all its residents are in it follows a decision from higher up, backed by the examination and approval of military jurists….The Palestinian population registry, including that of Gaza, is in the hands of the Israeli Interior Ministry. It includes details such as names, ages, relatives and addresses….
1 of 2
Israel/Palestine Coverage Presents False Equivalency Between Occupied and Occupier — FAIR
“Israel/Palestine Coverage Presents False Equivalency Between Occupied and Occupier” FAIR, May 18/21 by Gregory Shupak
EXCERPT:
“Media coverage of heightened violence in Israel/Palestine has misrepresented events in the Israeli government’s favor by suggesting that Israel is acting defensively, presenting a false equivalency between occupier and occupied, and burying information necessary to understand the scale of Israeli brutality.
“Corporate media have presented Israel’s killing spree as defensive, as a reaction to supposed Palestinian aggression. A Financial Times headline (5/10/21) read, “Hamas Rocket Attacks Provoke Israeli Retaliation in Gaza.” The New York Times’ description (5/12/21) was, “Hamas launched long-range rockets at Jerusalem on Monday evening, prompting Israel to respond with airstrikes.” An article in Newsweek (5/12/21) had it that “Hamas rained down rockets on Israeli civilian targets, and the Israeli military responded with surgical air strikes against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza.” A CNN headline (5/12/21) said, “At Least 35 Killed in Gaza as Israel Ramps Up Airstrikes in Response to Rocket Attacks.”
“The Wall Street Journal (5/12/21) ran the headline, “Hamas Attack on Israel Aims to Capitalize on Palestinian Frustration,” which makes it sound as if Israel were simply minding its own business and Hamas lashed out for no reason. The Journal reinforced this impression by describing Israel’s bombing of Gaza as merely a “response” to and a “counterstrike” against the rockets from Palestinian resistance factions.
“Imagine for a moment that the entire history of Israel/Palestine began on May 10. Even then, Hamas’ rocket fire was a follow through on its promise (Ynet, 5/10/21) to fire rockets in “response” to and “retaliation” against Israel if the latter didn’t remove its forces from the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheik Jarrah, where Israel has been attempting to force Palestinians from their homes and repressing the resultant protests, and from the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which Israel had just raided during Ramadan, Islam’s holiest month (Jacobin, 5/14/21). (cont’d)
.
2 of 2
“More to the point is that Israel, and its forerunners in the Zionist movement, have been carrying out a war against Palestinians for over 100 years, so Israeli self-defense against Palestinians is a logical impossibility (Electronic Intifada, 7/26/18). As an occupying power, Israel does not have a legal right to claim self-defense against the people it occupies (Truthout, 5/14/21). Israel has been subjecting Gaza to a military siege for 12–14 years, depending on the metric one uses to determine the starting point, which has left the territory effectively unlivable (Jacobin, 3/31/20); a siege is an act of war, so the party enforcing it cannot claim to be acting defensively in response to anything that happened subsequent to the start of the blockade.”
I decided to share the following with the readers here. A mother of one of the Arab kids at the school where I taught wrote this to his teacher (who shared it with me). She wrote it last Friday, as the ceasefire went into effect. My (unprofessional ) translation.
Dear
Hoping that the situation will calm down and that we’ll return to our normal routine. Our kids will go back to school soon. The violence and incitement around us have yet to subside and we – parents of the Arab students in …(name of school) are worried about the possibility that expressions of racism even in general may hurt our kids. We’ve already heard of such events in other schools and we are requesting that the school faculty strictly ensure -in regard to the students and the teachers- restraint in any racist expressions even as a part of emotional ventilation or “factual ” sayings. We live and study together and we’ll continue to make sure that we live together in mutual respect. Hoping for days of safety and calm.