Breaking The Stories: October 2023

curated by the Rev. Loren McGrail, UCC PIN Steering Committee



Damning evidence of war crimes as Israeli attacks wipe out entire families in Gaza

Photo by Ahmed Hasaballah/Getty Images

As Israeli forces continue to intensify their cataclysmic assault on the occupied Gaza Strip, Amnesty International has documented unlawful Israeli attacks, including indiscriminate attacks, which caused mass civilian casualties and must be investigated as war crimes.

The organization spoke to survivors and eyewitnesses, analyzed satellite imagery, and verified photos and videos to investigate air bombardments carried out by Israeli forces between 7 and 12 October, which caused horrific destruction, and in some cases wiped out entire families. Here the organization presents an in-depth analysis of its findings in five of these unlawful attacks. In each of these cases, Israeli attacks violated international humanitarian law, including by failing to take feasible precautions to spare civilians, or by carrying out indiscriminate attacks that failed to distinguish between civilians and military objectives, or by carrying out attacks that may have been directed against civilian objects. Here

The Case for a Ceasefire

Demonstrators with Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow at a rally demanding a ceasefire in Gaza on October 18, 2023 in Washington, DC (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

…We write as one Jewish American and one Palestinian American, both committed to ending the occupation and achieving equal rights between Israelis and Palestinians. We have each been disappointed by the reaction of many who identify as progressives in recent days. First and foremost, there is the leadership of the Democratic Party, which has offered unqualified support for the Israeli military response. Though we can’t say we are surprised by this, the abandonment of Palestinian civilians to their fate under the rubble strikes us as a profound betrayal by a party that had been moving, albeit very slowly, in the right direction. Here 

Israeli think tank lays out a blueprint for the complete ethnic cleansing of Gaza

Photo taken on OCT. 22, 2023 shows destroyed buildings after Israeli airstrikes in the Southern Gaza Strip City of Khan Younis.

(PHOTO: © KHALED OMAR/XINHUA VIA ZUMA PRESS APA IMAGES)

After this article was originally published, the Israeli outlet Calcalist reported on a separate plan for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza that is being circulated by the Israeli Intelligence Ministry headed by Gila Gamliel. The leaked document was reportedly created for an organization called “The Unit for Settlement – Gaza Strip” and was not meant for the public.

In the plan being proposed by the Intelligence Ministry, Palestinians in Gaza would be displaced from Gaza to the northern Egyptian Sinai peninsula. In the report, the ministry described different options for what comes after an invasion of Gaza and the option deemed as “liable to provide positive and long-lasting strategic results” was the transfer of Gaza residents to Sinai. The move entails three steps: the creation of tent cities southwest of the Gaza Strip; the construction of a humanitarian corridor to “assist the residents”; and finally, the building of cities in northern Sinai. In parallel, a “sterile zone”, several kilometers wide, would be established within Egypt, south of the Israeli border, “so that the evacuated residents would not be able to return.” Here 

More Resources

Dispatches from the West Bank: In the West Bank, violence and dispossession intensify as the line between settler and soldier is fast disappearing. Here

Israel is caught lying again and again. And yet, we never learn by Jonathan Cook Here

Gaza is a test of human morality by Ahmad Amara Here

 A response to Rev. William Barber on Palestinian resistance Here

Choose your point of view by Ahmed Moor  Here

Israel-Palestine War: The Wheels are Coming off the care of US Middle East Policy Here

Seven steps to end the cycle of killing in Israel and Palestine by Mubarak Awad Here

 'Totally Insufficient': Groups Say Trickle of Gaza Aid No Match for Ongoing 'Mass Atrocities'  Here

 Poems from the Palestinian Camps Here

Writing while expecting to die Here

 Media Resources

“Crisis in Zionism, Opportunity for Palestine?” A lecture by Professor Ilan Pappé, Professor of History, Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies. Here

Watch: Palestinian Journalist Rips Western Media Narrative on Israel's Gaza Slaughter Here

Let Them Eat Cement Here