An Email Trail of Tears Presaged October 7 Violence

The “surprise” attack by Hamas on October 7, 2024 caught Israel’s military and intelligence agencies, the CIA and U.S. Department of State, and the legacy press unawares, but it was not a surprise to me. As early as 2017, the United Nations had warned that Israel’s decade-long blockade of Gaza was rendering the strip unlivable. “How can 2.1 million people continue to survive there?” I wondered. “Will they just lie down and quietly die? What’s the end game here?”

I began subscribing to receive email updates from some of the human rights organizations that monitor the situation. Clearly, the standard news outlets were not telling us the whole story. Most important, I began listening to what Palestinians were saying and asking. Many were, it seemed, dying “quietly” as far as the American public was aware.

For example, in 2018, Israeli snipers shot 36,100 unarmed Palestinians in Gaza, like fish in a barrel, killing 217 of them, during the nonviolent protests called the Great March of Return. Who in the United States noticed this slaughter? What news desks reported on it? Who in the U.S. or Israeli government was offering any rational plan about how the slow genocide against the people in the Gaza strip would end? There seemed to be no plan. This was unsustainable.

By October 1, 2023, as leaves began putting on their fall colors, my email inbox screamed of the escalating violence Israel was inflicting on the civilians of Palestine in Gaza and the West Bank. How long could this go on? Was the plan simply ethnic cleansing and expulsion? Genocide? Eight days before the attack on Israel, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the Middle East region was quieter then it had been "in two decades.” He might a’ thunk different had he been reading the emails that arrived in my inbox prior to October 7, 2024. Some excerpts:

From “Colorado Progressive Jewish News,” robertjprince.net (August 29, 2024)
• The Government of Israel and its military detains around 500 to 700 Palestinian children between the ages of 12 and 17 each year and prosecutes them before a military court system that lacks basic and fundamental guarantees of due process in violation of international standards. [Notices that this first bullet describes hostages–Palestinian hostages.]

• The United Nations Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported in March 2023 that 58 schools in the West Bank, which are attended by 6,500 children, are subject to demolition orders issued by Israeli authorities.

• OCHA reported between April 15, 2021 and March 30, 2023, Israeli authorities demolished or seized 1,840 Palestinian structures across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, resulting in the displacement of 2,170 people, including 1,104 Palestinian children.

• Congresswoman Betty McCollum has introduced the Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act (H.R. 3103) to prohibit Israel from using U.S. taxpayer dollars on the military detention, abuse, or ill-treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli military detention; to support the seizure and destruction of Palestinian property and homes in violation of international humanitarian law; or on any support or assistance for Israel’s unilateral annexation of Palestinian territory in violation of international humanitarian law. Read Rep. McCollum’s full statement on the introduction of the bill here.

From NYT, via Foundation for Middle East Peace (September 30-Oct 6, 2023)
Across remote parts of the West Bank, the mountainous territory occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, Palestinian herding communities are abandoning their homes at a rate that has no recorded precedent, according to the United Nations. Simultaneously, Israeli settlers are establishing wildcat herding outposts at close to record levels, often near Palestinian villages, according to land assessments by Kerem Navot, an independent Israeli watchdog that monitors settlement activity… The reason for their departure is partly economic. The settlers’ herds graze on grass that was previously eaten by only the Palestinians’ sheep, creating a scarcity. They also block access to springs and pools that the Palestinians’ sheep could once easily reach. With less fodder and water, the Palestinians find it harder to subsist. But mainly, the Palestinians say they are leaving out of fear. In interviews, Palestinians from four hamlets recounted how the settler herders frequently entered their villages, carrying guns, and screaming at and insulting the residents.

From the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (September 26, 2023)
As of 26 September 2023, Israel has killed this year 179 Palestinians in the West Bank and 33 in the Gaza Strip. On 9 September, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian boy at the entrance of Al ‘Arrub Refugee Camp (Hebron); Palestinians threw stones and Molotov cocktails at a military observation tower, and Israeli forces shot live ammunition. The following day, during the funeral procession, three Palestinians including two boys were injured by Israeli forces, including two by live ammunition. The number of Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank in 2023 stands at 38 compared with 35 in all of 2022.

From Defense of Children International–Palestine (September 20, 2023)
46 Palestinian children have been killed [to date] in 2023, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Israeli forces and settlers have shot and killed at least 38 Palestinian children and killed one Palestinian child with a targeted drone strike in the occupied West Bank. Six Palestinian children in Gaza were killed in the May 2023 Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip, and a 10-year-old Palestinian child in Gaza succumbed to head wounds he sustained during the Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip in August 2022.

Israeli special forces shot and killed a Palestinian boy during an incursion into Jenin yesterday. … “Israeli forces routinely use lethal force in situations not justified by international law,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “Increasing Israeli military incursions into Palestinian cities and refugee camps combined with systemic impunity results in Israeli forces seemingly resorting to live ammunition and excessive use of force for crowd control purposes with complete disregard for the deadly consequences.”

[Rafat Omar Ahmad Khamayseh, 15,] was struck with one bullet that entered his abdomen and exited from the upper right side of his chest, according to documentation collected by DCIP. He bled extensively from his mouth and nose while waiting for an ambulance. Israeli forces killed four Palestinians, including Rafat, and injured at least 30 during the incursion into Jenin refugee camp, according to Al Jazeera.

From United Methodist Kairos Response (September 12, 2023)
2022 was the most deadly year in 15 years for Palestinian children. This year is on its way to surpassing that, with 42 children killed by Israeli forces or settlers and tens of thousands more being injured, traumatized by attacks, harassed by soldiers, and seeing their homes and schools demolished. Israel continues to arrest and prosecute hundreds of Palestinian children per year in a court system that does not protect their rights or uphold basic standards for due process. Many of these children are abused and beaten for confessions; unsurprisingly, 99% are convicted and sent to prison.… Israel's illegal settlers in the West Bank are committing daily violent attacks with the encouragement of the Israeli government. Their terrorism has been successful in driving out entire Palestinian communities who can bear no more.

With the settlers' help, the Israeli government has ethnically cleansed a large section of the West Bank between Ramallah and Jericho. This year, Israel has approved thousands of new homes for settlers in occupied Palestinian territory, in flagrant violation of international law and repeated United Nations demands for this illegal colonization to cease.

The Seattle Times via Dr. Alice Rothchild (September 12, 2023)
[O]n a recent human rights-focused, fact-finding visit to the region, I had the opportunity to question that so-called Israeli democracy. ... I met with three of the six human rights organizations banned and criminalized by the Israeli government in 2021: Al Haq, Bisan and the Union of Agricultural Work Committee. Israeli forces vandalized their offices, confiscated equipment, arrested and imprisoned staff, and attempted to destroy their international legitimacy and funding.
In the West Bank village of Al Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, surrounded by Jewish settlements and cut off from much of their farming and grazing land, there was a joint settler/Israeli military attack the day before I arrived. Seven farmers were injured, multiple olive trees torn up, deep, wide holes dug at the site of each tree, the soil poisoned. The agricultural road was destroyed, piled with huge rocks. The settlers also sent drones to harass the women and children while the men were out in the fields. As I set off for the area, a large flock of goats came trotting down the hill. Moments earlier the shepherds had been attacked and run off their grazing area, their shade tents flattened and buried.
The nearby affluent town of Turmus Ayya was the site of a vicious settler pogrom in June 2023 where 400 settlers under army protection burned 60 cars, 30 houses, killed one man and tear-gassed villagers. I stopped at the site of one of those blackened homes, owned by a Palestinian American who had recently moved back from Chicago, and listened to his terrifying account: kids crying, fire and smoke everywhere, olive trees in flames. The homeowner is not allowed to bring in machinery, so friends and family are doing the repairs by hand. This man used to work security at a synagogue in the U.S.
This pattern of terrorizing the local population and seizing land with impunity was repeated all over the West Bank, east Jerusalem and in Gaza as well. Over and over, I met Palestinians fighting back with human rights organizations, youth and media trainings, education, building seed banks, rooftop gardens, resolutely staying on the land, rebuilding, replanting, and upholding their sovereignty and their deep connection to the earth.

From B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization (September 2023)
The pogroms are working - the transfer is already happening. For decades, Israel has employed a slew of measures designed to make life in dozens of Palestinian communities throughout the West Bank miserable. This is part of an attempt to force residents of these communities to uproot themselves, seemingly of their own accord. Once that is achieved, the state can realize its goal of taking over the land. To advance this objective, Israel forbids members of these communities from building homes, agricultural structures or public buildings. It does not allow them to connect to the water and power grids or build roads, and when they do, as they have no other choice, Israel threatens demolition, often delivering on these threats.

Settler violence is another tool Israel employs to further torment Palestinians living in these communities. Such attacks have grown significantly worse under the current government, turning life in some places into an unending nightmare and denying residents any possibility of living with even minimal dignity. The violence has robbed Palestinian residents of their ability to continue earning a living. It has terrorized them to the point of fearing for their lives and made them internalize the understanding that there is no one to protect them. In the past two years, at least six West Bank communities have been displaced. …

From Ha’aretz, an Israeli newspaper, via IfAmericansKnew (October 3, 2023)
Israeli settler Elisha Yered, who is suspected of involvement in the killing of Palestinian teen Qosai Mi’tan, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday that spitting at Christians is “an ancient Jewish custom.” The comment comes amid several incidents of Jews spitting on or near Christian worshippers in Jerusalem’s Old City, which were filmed on Sunday and Monday. This gives more evidence to the fact that these attacks have become widespread.

From U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (July 12, 2023)
Last week, the Israeli military escalated its brutal attacks on West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp, bombing and killing civilians (including children), blocking medical assistance for wounded Palestinians, shooting journalists, firing on hospitals where families sought refuge, and destroying essential roads, water and sewage lines, and 80% of the homes in the area. UN officials expressed shock at the destruction and trauma in Jenin, reporting that children in the refugee camp are now afraid to leave their homes.

Without international condemnation, Israel will continue escalating violence and traumatizing generations of Palestinians. Prime Minister Netanyahu said this would ‘not be a one-time action’ Although these war crimes were aided by U.S. weapons and taxpayer dollars, President Biden has not criticized the invasion. Instead the White House released a statement supporting Israel’s “right to defend itself.”

The Cost of Reporting the Ethnic Minority Voice: Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh (Wikipedia)
Shireen Abu Akleh was a prominent Palestinian-American journalist who worked as a reporter for 25 years for Al Jazeera, before she was killed by Israeli forces [on May 11, 2022] while wearing a blue press vest and covering a raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Abu Akleh was one of the most prominent names across the Middle East for her decades of reporting in the Palestinian territories, and seen as a role model for many Arab and Palestinian women. She is considered to be an icon of Palestinian journalism.

Upon her death on May 11, 2022, Israel denied responsibility and blamed Palestinian militants. However, it gradually changed its narrative until admitting she was likely "accidentally" killed by Israeli fire, but refused to undertake a criminal investigation. [ Forensic studies showed strong evidence of a deliberate assassination by the IDF.]

Back to the Present Day
As of Aug. 31, 2024, 116 journalists had been killed since Oct. 7, 2023, according to statistics from the Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonprofit based in New York. The majority, 111, were Palestinians killed in Gaza, three were Lebanese, and two were Israeli journalists killed by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023.

Today is October 3, 2024, which is day 362 of the sped-up genocide, 362 days since Hamas militants attacked Israel. Months ago, the International Criminal Court called upon Israel and the U.S. to stop their genocidal actions against Palestinians in Gaza. So yes, now we have the answer: the US-Israel plan is simply genocide, ethnic cleansing, the slaughter and/or expulsion of the population in Gaza and the West Bank. A Trail of Tears for 5 million human beings, broadcast live on cell phone images around the globe, the hard data arriving daily in my email.

Jimmy Carter published Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid in 2006, but sadly, Israel has chosen apartheid. The dream of fascism is to forge a land that is ethnically pure and religiously homogenous. Who needs pie-in-the sky ideals like one person one vote? We will be great once again, as in the Golden Days of Yore, by becoming pure! It's our divine right! Apartheid. Ethno-nationalism. The ideology sprouts up as Zionism in Israel-Palestine, Hindutva in India, Nazism in Germany, and White Christian Supremacy in the United States. But ethno-nationalism leads to disaster for both the dominant and the oppressed group. There is never peace. On day 362, it's clear to everyone that Israeli citizens held hostage are sacrificial lambs in the eyes of the Zionist state.

That the people living on the land already, those who do not belong to the “correct” ethnicity and religion, might resist their silencing and erasure is not a surprise. For example, if you put 2.1 million people in a cage for 16 years, some of them might act violently. They might try to seize hostages to broker the return of their own hundreds of kidnapped brethren. And they might try to break out.

Steven Sellers Lapham, Gaithersburg, Maryland, October 3, 2024