Israel kills relentlessly, but no 'Al-Shejaia moment'

The wickedness continues, with at least 425 Palestinians, mostly civilians, now murdered by Israel. The names of those killed is being updated by the authorities in Gaza. 
 


Al-Shejaia, decimated 

In one of the most horrendous assaults to date, over 60 people have been massacred in the Al-Shejaia area of northeast Gaza. (Strong warning: the images from Al-Shehaiai are deeply disturbing.) 
 
Norwegian surgeon Dr Mads Gilbert has been at al-Shifa hospital, working in desperate conditions trying to save the dying and assist the injured. 
 
In A doctor writes from Gaza - 'there are lakes of blood', he observes:
 

My respect for the wounded is endless, in their contained determination in the midst of pain, agony and shock. My admiration for the staff and volunteers is endless. My closeness to the Palestinian "sumud" - or steadfastness - gives me strength. But, in glimpses, I just want to scream, hold someone tight, cry, smell the skin and hair of the warm child, covered in blood, protect ourselves in an endless embrace - but we cannot afford that, nor can they.

Channel 4 News reporter Jonathan Miller has recorded much of the horror, a traumatic experience in itself.
 
He tweets: 

Jonathan Miller @millerC4
#c4news #Gaza Doctors at Shifa Hospital describe last night as "a massacre". I have seen there which I will never be able to unsee.

It's admirable that such journalists are there on the ground witnessing the killing and terror. But isn't it also just as vital that they bear witness, via their reporting, to the true cause and context of that killing and terror: Israel's enduring siege and the relentless Occupation of Palestinian land?

That needs to be said, clearly and consistently. Otherwise, we see the suffering - or what fraction of it the media deem permissible - but remain ignorant or mystified about the fundamental reason why it's happening.

All of which helps reinforce the spurious 'two-warring-sides' line, the facile 'tit-for-tat' narrative so seamlessly delivered by the BBC. 

This vast media distortion provides invaluable cover for political evasion. As with previous mass attacks on Gaza, where's the outcry from the US, Britain and all those 'responsibility to protect' liberals? Where's the international reaction we heard when Nato was rushing to 'defend' and 'liberate' Libya, that 'Benghazi moment'? Would we ever remotely hear them talk now of an 'Al-Shejaia moment'?

Kerry has, apparently, been caught 'off mic' reacting to Israel's blanket killing in 'Al-Shejaia: "It's a hell of a pinpoint operation", he said. 

It was a small, but revealing, moment, confirming not just what craven elites like Kerry really do see, but, much more shamefully, what they pretend not to. As he continued flawlessly again into 'we support Israel' mode, it confirmed the sheer venal deceit of his 'peace-shuttling diplomacy'.     

Contemplating the poor victims of Al-Shejaia, the horrors being inflicted on Gaza, and the West's protection of the perpetrators, people may despairingly ask: how do those like Kerry live with their wicked deceptions? Their work is not remotely about the promotion of peace and resolution, but the calculating mitigation of state terrorism. 

Yet, as Jonathan Cook suggests, we should also think deeply about the seemingly 'human motivations' behind Kerry's unguarded words, for, together with his pledge to keep supporting Israel's killing machine, they help explain the darker, delusional psychology that allows such people to rationalise mass slaughter in the 'higher interest'.

Alongside Israel's state gangsters, we can only hope such Western criminal complicity is one day exposed in the highest court of law.