Our Wednesday News Analysis | Ten Holocaust survivors condemn Israel’s Gaza genocide

HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS AND THEIR DESCENDANTS AT A PROTEST IN LONDON OPPOSING THE GAZA GENOCIDE, MAY 2024. (PHOTO: X)

Below is a letter signed by ten Holocaust survivors condemning the genocide in Gaza and the misuse of antisemitism accusations by politicians.

The co-founder of Human Rights Watch, Aryeh Neier, has recently said that Israel is engaged in genocide in Gaza. He’s also said that using accusations of antisemitism to attack Israel’s critics “debases the whole concept of antisemitism.” As Holocaust survivors, we are writing to agree wholeheartedly with Professor Neier — who himself only survived the Holocaust by escaping Nazi Germany as a child in 1939.

At a recent Holocaust memorial, Netanyahu declared:
“We’ll defeat our genocidal enemies.
Never again is now!”

Meanwhile, at another memorial, Biden warned of a

“ferocious surge of antisemitism” on college campuses.

In our opinion, to use the memory of the Holocaust like this
to justify either genocide in Gaza or repression on college campuses is a complete insult to the memory of the Holocaust.

The dehumanization of Palestinians, describing them as “human animals,” the killing of tens of thousands of civilians, indiscriminate bombing, the destruction of universities and hospitals, and the use of mass starvation — these are clearly stages of ethnic cleansing and genocide. They cannot be defended any more than sending weapons to commit this genocide or refusing funding to UNRWA. With no better arguments, our politicians have resorted to misusing the memory of the Holocaust while claiming that protesting against Israeli genocide is somehow antisemitic.

As Holocaust survivors, we have no special authority on the Middle East but we do know about antisemitism. It’s simply wrong to claim that it’s antisemitic to oppose Israeli genocide. It’s also wrong to claim that calling for equal rights for Jews and Arabs “from the river to the sea” is antisemitic.

As Holocaust survivors, we are just a few individuals but we want to add our voices to the growing global movement to demand a permanent ceasefire, an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and for the West to stop arming and supporting genocide.

Signatories

Jacques Bude (Brussels Belgium), survived in hiding in Belgium, parents killed in Auschwitz.

Marione Ingram (Washington DC), survived in hiding in Nazi Germany.

Stephen Kapos (London UK), survived the Budapest ghetto.

H. Richard Leuchtag (Houston TX), escaped Germany in 1938.

Rene Lichtman (Southfield MI), survived in hiding in France.

Adam Policzer (Vancouver BC), survived in hiding in Hungary.

Lillian Rosengarten (Cold Spring NY), escaped Germany in 1936.

Suzanne Ross (New York), escaped Nazi-occupied Belgium

Suzanne Berliner Weiss (Toronto Ont.), survived in hiding in France, mother killed in Auschwitz.

Ervin Somogyi (Oakland, CA), survivor from Hungary.

Read more: Ten Holocaust survivors condemn Israel’s Gaza genocide

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CHILDREN STARVING, PARENTS HELPLESS AS FAMINE CONSUMES NORTHERN GAZA

Source: +972 Magazine
https://www.972mag.com/northern-gaza-famine-hunger-malnutrition-aid/

By Ibrahim Mohammad
Published June 18, 2024

With aid blocked and stores empty of basic goods, dozens of Palestinian children have been hospitalized with malnutrition and acute anemia.

Palestinian children wait for a hot meal prepared by volunteers in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, April 4, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

When 10-month-old Saeed Darwish tries to cry,

he can no longer make a sound. His sunken eyes and pale skin testify to his painfully empty stomach:
he has barely eaten in weeks.

With the northern Gaza Strip once again facing critical shortages of food, water, and infant formula as a result of Israel’s siege and ongoing military bombardment, Saeed is one of many Palestinian children whose bodies are wasting away from starvation.

The doctors at Kamal Adwan Hospital, in the town of Beit Lahia, say Saeed is suffering from severe fatigue, emaciation, and anemia. His father, Khalil, sits at his bedside, waiting agonizingly for Saeed’s condition to improve; his heart is wracked with the pain and helplessness of being unable to relieve his son’s affliction.

“My child wakes up crying every night from extreme hunger, but I cannot find anything to feed him,” Khalil told +972. “All I can bring him is pieces of bread — and even this is becoming scarce.”

Khalil fears that Saeed could join a growing list of more than 30 Palestinian children in Gaza who have died of malnutrition and dehydration in recent months. In March, northern Gaza was declared to be facing imminent famine. Now, according to the World Health Organization, “a significant proportion” of Gaza’s entire population is experiencing “catastrophic hunger and famine-like conditions.” At Kamal Adwan Hospital alone, 50 children are currently being treated for severe malnutrition...

Read more: Children starving, parents helpless as famine consumes northern Gaza

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ISRAELI ARMY’S OPTIONS ON GAZA: MARGINALIZATION OR CONFRONTATION

Source: Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2536621

By Dr. Ramzy Baroud
Published June 24, 2024

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that there will be no civil war in Israel. But he might be wrong (File/AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that “there will be no civil war” in Israel. But he might be wrong.

Netanyahu’s statement was made in the context of the growing popular protests in the country, especially following the long-anticipated resignations of several members of his war Cabinet, including Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot — both former chiefs of staff in the Israeli army.

These resignations did not necessarily isolate Netanyahu, as his popularity rests almost entirely on the support of the right and the far right. However, the move further illustrated the deep and growing rifts in Israeli society, which could ultimately take the country from a state of political upheaval to an actual civil war.

The divisions in Israel cannot be viewed the same way as the political polarizations that are currently rife in Western democracies. This assertion is not necessarily linked to the legitimate view that, at its core, Israel is not an actual democracy but is, rather, due to the fact that Israel’s political formation is unique...

Read more: Israeli army’s options on Gaza: Marginalization or confrontation