Ghost Of Genocide Past

In the month of Christmas we find that the only spirit haunting Gaza is the ghost of Genocide Past.

Like a vampire, driven by bloodlust, it stalks the bombed out buildings and war-made wastelands in search of victims. The post world war 2 edict of Never Again has been exposed for being as hollow as the hearts and as shallow as the minds of those who swore fidelity to the concept and have borne false witness to it since. For them Never Again really amounts to Never Again will we move to prevent genocide if it is being perpetrated by our allies rather than our enemies.

Mondoweiss has put its finger on the type of peace Gazans are now enduring.

It’s been nearly two months since the ceasefire was reached in Gaza. Hopes were high among the 2 million Palestinians in the besieged Strip that not only would the Israeli bombings stop, but that everything they had been deprived of for the past two years – food, clean water, adequate medicine and healthcare – would flood into Gaza to ease their struggles. The hopes of regaining a fragment of the life they knew before the war, have dissipated, as the reality of a “new genocide” sets in . . . Though some aid has come into Gaza, and people have tried to restore some semblance of normalcy, the reality in Gaza is far from peacetime. Israeli bombs are still falling, people cannot return to their home, and sufficient food aid and medicines are still in short supply.

On November 6 a Deputy UN Spokesperson, Farhan Haq, told journalists in New York that:

Our partners report that since the ceasefire, the Israeli authorities have rejected 107 requests for the entry of relief materials, including blankets, winter clothes, and tools and material to maintain and operate water, sanitation and hygiene services.

Add to this the joint statement by Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates warning that the Israeli decision to open the Rafah crossing so that traumatised Palestinian citizens could make their way to Egypt, is to enable the expulsion of Gazans. The eight nations stated their 'absolute rejection of any attempts to expel the Palestinian people from their land,' and have demanded that the crossing be opened both ways. We know only too well the Israeli attitude to the right of return.

This combination of Israeli tactical manoeuvres to secure t the strategic of population displacement has led to a spokesperson for the health ministry in Gaza claiming:

This is a new form of genocide. The policy of refusing to allow in what is necessary for people’s survival mirrors what happened earlier, when food was withheld, and malnutrition was deliberately created.

Against such a sombre backdrop, it is animating to again gather alongside all those who make up Drogheda Stands With Palestine, particularly in the wake of last week's intensified efforts both in the town and in Dublin to force the issue in front of the noses of the Michael Lowry-made coalition that governs this country. That Lowry had such a prominent role as kingmaker tells us that the heartbeat of the governing class is not an ethical one, while allowing us to better grasp the anger that fuses Alan Kelly - our own Alan Kelly, the good one, not the Labour Party guy - when he calls for someone to shout out the names Micheal Martin, Simon Harris, Helen McEntee and call them spineless lying bastards over their inertia on the Occupied Territories Bill.

Sadly, the people of Ireland are not alone in trying to compel Western governments to do what they should be doing. The German opposition has slated the country's Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, over his upcoming visit to Israel, where he is scheduled to meet a man wanted by the International Criminal Court on suspicion of war crimes, Beelzebub Netanyahu. Such nauseating contempt for universal human rights and global justice.

On a lighter note, a friend in Belfast, Marty Flynn, baked what he called a Bailies based cake. He sent it through the post and it arrived yesterday, neatly packaged in a Quality Street tub. I am hoping that is not on the boycott list but if it is then I can console myself with the knowledge that we only got the tub and not the contents. It was hardly opened before four of us ate halfway through it. Sated, I came up with the suggestion to share the rest of it with those who I have been honoured to stand alongside for the past two years protesting Israel, a country that has already stolen the Palestinian cake and commits genocide in pursuit of more.

⏩Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.