Palestinians say this war is robbing them not only of their loved ones but also of the funeral rites that long have offered mourners some dignity and closure in the midst of unbearable grief. Israeli strikes have killed so many people so quickly that they’ve overwhelmed hospitals and morgues, making the normal rituals of death all but impossible.
Overflowing morgues have compelled hospitals to bury people before their relatives can claim them. Gravediggers have laid dozens of unidentified bodies side by side in two large backhoe-dug furrows in Gaza City now holding 63 and 46 bodies, respectively, said Mohammed Abu Selmia, the general director of Shifa Hospital.
I’m fifty, American and have always had a problem with our unconditional support of Israel, no matter how poorly they behaved. The only silver lining of this entire catastrophy is the fact that, despite all efforts to the contrary, the Gaza narrative has been mainly focused on the suffering of the Palestinian people. It’s the first time that I can remember where this has been the main media focus; even mainstream outlets.
And that’s despite all the efforts to paint Israel as an innocent ally.
I used to think that it was only in Apartheid-South Africa that we were exposed to only the most flowery pro-Israeli propaganda while the PLO was smeared as a demonic and terrorist “other” in much the same way Hamas is being smeared right now - I thought wrong.
The fact that the National Party (of Apartheid-fame) were filled to the brim with people who believed the Nazis “did nothing wrong” really puts this bizarre right-wing and white supremacist fetishization of Israel in a proper context.