Silence and the horror of Jenin

Culture and Religion, International relations, Media, Politics, Religion and Faith, Top 5

Jul 5, 2023

Panorama of Jenin in Palestine, West Bank.

Why hasn’t the devastation of almost an entire people been called out for what it is?

Where’s the outrage of what is happening in Jenin, Palestinian Territory? One of Australia’s foremost newspapers had an article today on whether it’s best to drink soy, almond or oat milk. Really? Who could have imagined that in 2023 Israel is allowed to get away with settler-colonialism as they imprison millions of people and subjugate them in such dire conditions while Australia frets about which ‘milk’ to put in their coffee.

Perhaps we need another documentary from the likes of Oliver Stone to remind us of the reality of what some people suffer on a daily basis, and to enlighten younger generations as to what is happening in the Palestinian Territories and the horrors they face.

There are numerous articles on the situation, from a political realism point of view, a religious, economical or societal view. This article is from a humanitarian point of view of what has happened in Jenin overnight. This area has been terrorised with an invasion by the IDF. How many more children have to be killed, homes destroyed, futures obliterated and people imprisoned in refugee camps and in Gaza? Why did it matter in South Africa, but not Palestine? These questions should be posed to the United States – which is the main backer of Israel – and to countries who support the Israeli position towards the Palestinians. One may wonder how they dare to sit on their hands and ignore what is happening to the Palestinians. Money and power – that is how they dare. Lives don’t matter. Australia should step up to the plate of humanity and act and not be scared of what the US will think of them if they do the right thing.

The latest incursion and horror committed by the IDF and Israeli government is beyond the comprehension of most civilised people of this world. The people in Jenin are fish in a barrel for the IDF and Israeli government to inflict their hatred and wrath upon. The area of Jenin is part of the ongoing greed of the Israeli government to take yet more land and expel or “neutralise” the Palestinians. People such as Ben-Givr are itching to have repeat situations like in Jenin so they can rain down their hatred upon the Palestinians. Dangerous people like Ben-Givr give Israelis carte blanche to move in and take, take, take. Take lives, take land and take peoples futures, and in the process try to take away our sense of humanity.

The euphemisms in the media seem to deliberately obfuscate. Major operations, terrorist groups, Islamic jihad are all words used to justify the terror that the Israeli’s inflict upon the Palestinians. How about words like the murder of children, incarceration, 75-year jail sentence, collective punishment and ethnic cleansing. It’s hard to imagine how the authorities of the IDF keep a straight face when saying they “did not seek to harm civilians”. When a fully armed military unit bomb, air strike, smoke out and invade a refugee camp, do they really care who they are shooting at?

The IDF cut the electricity and communication lines to Jenin yesterday as they smoked out the refugees – like rats. But these are human beings, women and children, who have been terrorised for seven decades as they struggle to defend themselves against one of the most brutal armies; an army that has been supplied and encouraged by successive United States administrations. An army which operates by their own brutal rules. Rules that Human Rights Watch and the UN don’t agree with.

Protest voices, published articles and a few countries protestations will eventually be heard and recognised. South Africa could not hold out against the world’s condemnation. Israel cannot continue to invade, destroy and kill helpless people. The Ukrainians had the world jumping up and down within minutes of the invasion from Russia. Minutes. Every day there are headlines of what is happening in Russia and the Ukraine. Is it more important for white Ukrainians to be rescued than darker skinned Arabs? Slavery was called out, the Holocaust was called out, colonialism was called out. Why hasn’t the devastation of almost an entire people been called out for what it is. Terrorism and settler-colonial Occupation.

There are far too many questions as to why this situation continues. But just one answer. Justice.