At this point, it’s misleading to say that the US is complicit in the ethnic cleansing in Gaza. When we talk about American involvement we’re talking about funding, arming, green-lighting, defending, spreading propaganda, providing aerial surveillance, and possibly even sending ground troops to participate in the genocide. That’s not complicity, that’s full-blown active involvement and enthusiastic participation. This country needs a hard reset.
In Gaza, the mass hunger is setting in and the malnutrition is spreading. The lack of food, clean water, and medical supplies continue to have a deadly impact on innocent Palestinians doing everything in their power to avoid being murdered. The system of distribution for aid in Gaza has collapsed, and in its place, a black market has led to skyrocketing prices for everyday goods. A bag of flour can cost ~450 shekels ($121), sugar goes for about 40 shekels ($10). Rare luxuries like coffee, biscuits or eggs have vanished entirely. Without cooking gas, Palestinians are resorting to chopping down whatever trees they can find for firewood. With little to no treatment available for the 14% of Gaza’s population suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic heart conditions, even the slightest medical issue can quickly turn lethal.
The UN humanitarian office reported earlier this week that poor sanitation has led to widespread cases of scabies, lice and diarrhea, contributing to fears that more serious diseases will soon spread. Aid workers in the area have also reported outbreaks of the liver disease hepatitis A. And the Israeli bombs haven’t stopped for a moment. A study from the apartheid state found that at least 61% of casualties from Israeli airstrikes have been civilians, which realistically makes the civilian proportion of deaths in Gaza higher than the average in all world conflicts in the 20th century. (You may recall that the 20th century featured two world wars).
Here in the cognitively-impaired US, the president of the University of Pennsylvania resigned this week due to mounting pressure from major donors and criticism over her testimony at a congressional hearing. Liz Magill received overwhelming criticism for being unwilling or unable to say that nonexistent calls on her campus for the ‘genocide of Jews’ would violate the school’s conduct policy. Nevermind that no such calls have been made, at UPenn or anywhere else for that matter. The effect of this decision can’t be overlooked. How many other university presidents or politicians or figures in power will be intimidated into endorsing the genocide currently being carried out by the Jewish state?
A question I’ve been asking myself for months now is what exactly is the point of the UN anymore? If they’re unable to stop an ongoing genocide because of the veto of one country, truly what’s the point? Is it theatrical diplomacy for the sake of optics? Is it plausible deniability to say, “at least we tried”? The international community has overwhelmingly voted for a ceasefire, global humanitarian organizations like Doctors Without Borders and Amnesty International have called for a ceasefire, even a majority of American voters support a ceasefire. The entire world is watching and condemning the US government. The fact of the matter is the UN hasn’t tried, because the US hasn’t allowed it to.
Side Items
$700 Million Man: Japanese baseball superstar and two-time unanimous AL MVP Shohei Ohtani agreed to a massive 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers yesterday, ending his free agency by signing a record setting deal. I’m not a big baseball guy, and I’m sure Ohtani is quite valuable, but believe me when I say nobody is worth that amount of money