The Genocide currently unfolding in Gaza, is collective punishment justified?

Three minutes without air, three days without water, and three weeks without food—those are the survival rule of threes.

On Monday, October 9th, 2023, Israel, which controls the electricity, food, fuel, and water to Gaza, issued a complete siege. Meaning no food, no water, no electricity, and no fuel is to enter the region.
 
How did we get here?
 
To understand what is going on today, we need to look at what has been happening historically and over the past few months. The culmination of what we are seeing today is highly complex. Please note, I am not a political commentator, but I am trying to make this as simple as possible, so please be patient and feel free to add constructive criticisms in the comments.
 
Key actors and factors:

• Israel – For the past months, Israel has been going through a judicial reform process which has been dividing the country of Israel. This reform process, which Netanyahu has been advocating, has split the country. Generally, Northern Israelis are more agreeable to the reform process whereas folks in the South are less agreeable. Especially, the areas that were attacked. It is worth noting that Egypt warned Israel 10 days before the attack. Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign assistance and is infamous for its army, surveillance technology, and military superiority. Surprisingly, it took the IDF 6 hours to respond to civilian requests for help.
  
• Palestine – After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Palestine was under British control and in 1917 the British issued the Balfour Declaration which included provisions for establishing a “Jewish homeland in Palestine”. The Nakba otherwise known as the catastrophe for Palestinian people sparked the creation of Israel in 1948. Since 1948, Zionist and Jewish Settlers have violently displaced Palestinians and progressively stolen 77% of what was originally Palestinian land. With each progressive land grab, Palestinians are displaced and forced to either leave their homeland with no right for return or steered into the West Bank and or Gaza.
  
• Hamas – This is a fringe group in Palestine that has been challenging the Palestinian Liberation Movement (PLO).  In early 1980s, the Israeli government was funding Hamas which very similar to how the CIA was involved with Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden. In 2006, which is when the last elections occurred on the Gaza Strip, Hamas won. 
  
• Gaza Strip – Densely population, these 140 square miles are home to ~2.3 million people.  In 2007, Israel issued a blockage and restricted the movement of people which essentially isolated Gaza from the rest of the occupied Palestinian territories. This restriction of movement and supplies in and out of the strip includes key infrastructural measures like electricity, water, construction materials, etc. For 15+ years, Gaza has been trapped in what Human Rights Watch calls "an open-air prison.” Israel is in complete control of Gaza's access to food, fuel, water, electricity, and humanitarian aid.
  

What is happening right now?

Right, this open-air concentration camp known as Gaza is being carpet bombed by the state of Israel for horrendous and heinous actions committed by Hamas. These actions and claims include some war crimes—some claims are true, and some claims are false. It is worth noting that some of the claims are egregious and must be investigated further. Regardless, this was and is a terrorist attack. It is the largest terrorist attack on Israel. Viewer discretion is advised, but please watch the video below which shows some of the carnage.

My heart goes out to all the victims and their families, to those individuals’ held hostage, to all those stranded beneath rubble, and to all those missing. This is an atrocity. Collective punishment is not, nor will it ever be the answer. It is not going to bring back lives lost. It is not going to solve the problem. It will only bring death and destruction.

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." Gandhi

Israel currently is punishing the people of Gaza. Collective punishment that is condoned and funded by the United States. The POTUS and VP have stated their unconditional support for Israel’s right to defend itself. This is concerning because Israel is launching retaliatory attacks against a captive population. As a US citizen, taxpayer, and voter, I have never been more disappointed and disgusted. I have always believed all life is sacred and am deeply concerned by the violent response.

I am deeply concerned by the genocidal language used by Netanyahu, the Israeli War Ministries, by members of the US Congress, and by individuals who are advocating for further death and destruction. For context, Article II of the Genocide Convention defines genocide as "any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

1. Killing members of the group;
2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."
   
   

It also should be noted that the people of Gaza have nowhere to go. These are babies, children, mothers, daughters, etc. These are civilians. These are noncombatants. Furthermore, Israel is using white phosphorus which is a violation of international humanitarian law. The only border exit to Egypt was bombed several times rending the roads inoperable. On October 12/13, Israel told all the residents of North Gaza to evacuate.

Where will they go?

This should never be acceptable. This should never be condoned. This should never go non-questioned.

Sensationalism and misinformation are making this entire situation worse. It is playing on emotions and blinding people to their core beliefs, values, and what they inherently know is true. Being angry at injustice and murder is fair and acceptable; being so blind with rage that you willingly subject innocent parties to atrocities is unacceptable. This goes for both Hamas and Israel. I would like to think the majority of rational people would agree with that statement.

The challenge is that for the past few years there has been a critical effort to conflate criticizing Israel with Antisemitism (Antisemitism like Islamophobia, Homophobia, Transphobia, Racism, etc. is unacceptable). Furthermore, there has been conceited efforts to ban all dialogue that criticizes Israel and or support the right of Palestinians to freely live without oppression.

In France, there is a ban on Pro-Palestinians protests. In the United States, there are anti-BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) laws that oppose boycotts of Israel, the proponents of this law believe BDS is antisemitic. Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions started as a non-violent form of protest that used to combat apartheid in South Africa. Human Rights Watch instead suggests that “states should encourage, not sanction, companies that avoid contributing to human rights abuses”. Amnesty International in “a damning report” found that Israel’s apartheid over Palestinian people is cruel.

Language is important and it is imperative to speak out against injustice. This includes injustices that are unfairly targeting Israeli citizens. This also includes injustices that have historically and currently are unfairly targeting Palestinian citizens. This history and the existing power dynamics must be acknowledged, examined, and contextualized. But right now, Gaza is at the brink of genocide.

I will not silently watch, and neither should you.

What should we do going forward?

Here are a two actions you can today:

1. Advocate to your governments and your leaders for an immediate ceasefire and de-escalation
   
2. Educate yourself and your friends/ family on the history of Israel, Palestine, Gaza, antisemitism, and Islamophobia
3. Take care of your family and loved ones, all this inflammatory language has increased Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and violence. Recently, a 6 year old boy was stabbed 26 times because of this violent rhetoric and a Synagogue leader was murdered
   

While it can seem like a complex situation to solve, problems must be taken one at a time. It is clear that the current state of Israel and Palestine is not favorable to either population, both must come to the table to create a peaceful future together. Ideas must advocate for:

• Freeing of Prisoners
  • Israeli hostages must be released
  • 1,264 Palestinian administrative detainees and Palestinian children in Israeli prisons must also be released
• Palestinians Sovereign Rights
  • Palestinians must be able to hold elections, the fact that the last election was in 2006 is ridiculous
  • Palestinians must have control over their public utilities like water, electricity, and fuel
• Tribunal for War Crimes
  • Hamas must be held accountable for their war crimes
  • Israel must be held accountable for its war crimes

Things not included in my analysis include Iran, the potential of a wider escalation in the region, Israel's border tensions with Lebanon and Syria, US interests in the Middle East and a historical analysis of US energy policy which has historically driven US presence and policy in the region.

Kindly note, I may come back and update this article periodically as new events and information unfolds.