In Gaza, they will not celebrate the Feast of Sacrifice, they just want to get through the holiday alive

What is happening now in Gaza?

What is the significance of the IDF killing dozens of civilians who walk dozens of kilometers on foot or on donkeys to bring a loaf of bread to their children?

"They walked away from the crowd and posed a danger to the IDF"?! This unfortunate man who walked this distance, hungry, thirsty, desperate – posed a threat to tanks and armored vehicles?!

And does anyone really expect them to stand in line, one after the other, like at the ticket office of an opera concert? Would that provide security for the IDF?

What is actually happening in Gaza is an Israeli attempt to thwart the new food distribution plan, which put an end to Hamas’s control over the division and looting. And this is another crime added to the chain of war crimes in Gaza. The effort to prolong the war for the sake of Netanyahu’s various interests is also a war crime. And I am not interested in the precise legal definition of a “war crime.”

The IDF is carrying out a plan of destruction in indirect and sophisticated ways to circumvent international law. The circumvention is not only carried out by the government and its conduct. Gaza residents do not die only from bombings or direct fire from tanks, planes, artillery and snipers. They also die on the way to get bread, from hunger under the open sky, from thirst, from drinking contaminated water. The sick die in what remains of the ruins of hospitals that are empty of both medicine and medical staff - if any remain at all, others die "at home" due to a lack of essential medicines. The elderly die because there is nothing to keep them alive. Some die from the pain and anger when they see their children's vertebrae protruding through their skin. And some die simply because they live in a building where someone "suspected of supporting Hamas" lives, so the building is bombed before that person can escape. Journalists die because they reveal the truth. Medical personnel die because they are trying to save lives. This is the circumvention. of international law – to evade definitions such as "war crime", "genocide" or "ethnic cleansing".

And we? We run away from this reality – because it's hard for us to believe. And there are those among us who get angry when they say these are war crimes, and prefer to accuse the International Criminal Court of anti-Semitism.

What to do?

We, the innocent citizens, have no choice but to stop this innocence and roll up our sleeves – to overthrow the government and replace it with a government that is not criminal – at least. (And this phrase, “at least,” is a gift from me to anyone who tries to soften their words and insist on manners.)

Every legal means possible must be used to overthrow the government, and to establish a broad, fair political alliance that can replace it – and that will choose a strategy of peace, not war. Respect for the law, not its trampling. Justice, not injustice. Equality, not racial discrimination.

You know what? I would be content with just a peace strategy now! Because that has become a distant and unattainable dream, unfortunately, to the point that it is not even a topic of conversation. Who even talks about it except a crazy person like me?

Happy holiday, Abraham our father. Thank you for slaughtering a lamb instead of your son.

Tamim Abu Khait