7th REPORT FROM GAZA

A ball in Gaza saves a life

There is no other comparable case of the deliberate massacre of children, save that of the soldiers of Herod the Great, perpetrator of the Massacre of the Innocents. History repeats itself. Israel, as ever, is the main protagonist. In a thousand days of unilateral military action: 953 infants under one year of age have ‘disappeared’, 943 aged one, 972 aged two, 899 aged three, 868 aged four, 985 aged five, and 924 aged six. From 0 to 6 years of age, the total is 6,544. (In Ukraine, in the same age group, 56 children have died since the start of the war.) If we add children over the age of 6, the total rises to 21,000 Palestinian children who have lost their lives. There is a word to describe all this, but we will not use it; we have verified that using it would result in this post being blocked by sponsors.

The objective, then? To wipe out childhood. This has been admitted by the Israeli military themselves.

However, a new aggravating factor emerges from the UN report: the plan to add to the 21,000 deaths a generation of maimed children. What a brilliant insight on Israel’s part – yes, death, as Herod taught us, but even better if we add permanent disability to the future Palestinian population.

The images of the lovely little boy playing football in the dust amongst the tents in Gaza are a punch in the gut, as the Pordenone Committee for Palestine – which has helpfully published them – writes; and they represent, at the same time, yes, the immense suffering of a people reduced to a state of helplessness, but also the extraordinary ability of its children to find pockets of normality, where there seems to be no room for hope for the future.

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