Australia must act to stop Israel’s mass murder of Gaza Palestinians

The following article has been adapted from a double-sided A4 leaflet which was handed out at a protest for Palestine, which commenced from Queen's Park in the Brisbane CBD at 2pm on Sunday 26 November. Errors found in the original have been corrected. The 200K PDF file is attached here (earlier version here).

The latest round in Israel’s war against the people of Gaza commenced on 7 October, following the Al-Aqsa Flood operation by Hamas fighters.

Since that day, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have, in full view of the whole world and in real time, killed thousands of the civilian inhabitants of the Gaza Strip – mostly women and children. As of 24 November - 2 days ago - 14,854 Palestinians, mostly women and children, are known to have have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli Defence Forces. [1] Before our eyes, residential buildings, often with residents still within them, have been bombed and made to collapse into rubble. Other targets, hit by the IDF, include hospitals, schools, kindergartens, churches and mosques.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has openly stated that his goal is to drive the 2,200,000 Palestinians living in the 220 square kilometres of the Gaza into the Sinai Desert. He has given Palestinians a choice – head south or be killed by Israeli bullets, rockets, tank shells, artillery shells, aerial bombardment or even banned white phosphorous. Many Palestinians, who have followed this advice and have attempted to move south, have still been killed by the IDF.

How could the killing of so many civilians possibly be justified?

What could possibly justify the killing of so many Palestinian civilians alongside the destruction of their homes, possessions and infrastructure necessary for their health and well-being?

According to Netanyahu, this is all necessary to protect Israel from further attacks like that which occurred on 7 October, when Hamas fighters captured Israeli civilians at the Supernova Music Festival and supposedly murdered 260 of them. Only by the IDF killing or capturing all the Hamas fighters within Gaza, and their leader, can Israelis be safeguarded, in future, from further attacks like this.

Did Hamas fighters kill 260 Israeli civilians on 7 October?

Unfortunately, many who have spoken out very movingly in support of Palestine [3] have still failed to challenge this lie. Because Israel included the deaths of IDF personnel in the death toll, the number of civilians killed on that day is widely believed to be even more – 1,200. This makes the apparently monstrous killing of 260 civilians on that day seem even more monstrous. This could lead many to believe that actions by IDF in Gaza are understandable in the circumstances.

In fact, as even reported by testimony from surviving Israelis, the IDF and not Hamas fighters, first opened fire on that day. Hamas fighters were attempting to take the hostages back to Gaza to exchange for several hundred Palestinian prisoners imprisoned in Israel. Under the Nakba Doctrine, under which the IDF does not willingly allow any Israeli to captured, the IDF soldiers on the scene were ordered to kill all of the Hamas fighters regardless of the consequences for their hostages. [2]

Then the killings were attributed to Hamas. The Hamas fighters were armed solely with Kalashnikov assault rifles and grenades, but injuries to the festival attendees showed that they were shelled from helicopters and tanks. Surrounding settlement infrastructure was also destroyed by aerial bombing and tank-fire, with bodies there found burned alive, buried under rubble. How could Hamas have caused all of this destruction without planes, helicopters or tanks?

See https://candobetter.net for the PDF from which this was printed.

Footnotes

[1] Gaza death toll from Israeli attacks tops 14,800 - Victims include 6,150 children, 4,000 women, government media office says (24/11/23) | Anadolu Ajansi by Muhammed Sabry at https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/gaza-death-toll-from-israeli-attacks-tops-14-800/3063063

[2] See VIDEO: What really happened on October 7? (18/11/23) | The Grayzone by Max Blumenthal at https://thegrayzone.com/2023/11/18/video-what-happened-october-7/ and Why is Israel trying to HIDE this hostage interview? (26/10/23) | Redacted News at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HugMS0k0kB4

[3] This includes Spanish MP Ione Bellara, former Spanish Social Rights Minister (Twitter handle @IoneBellara), who still condemns Hamas whilst she is very outspoken against Israel.