• There are more Palestinian deaths in Gaza than in any other conflict since the immoral establishment of Israel
• Palestinian suffering surpasses any other atrocity since 1948
As the genocide in Gaza continues into the 10th week, the desensitisation of the Palestinian people continues. With reports that not a single hospital in northern Gaza is functioning and reports that the death toll in Gaza has surpassed twenty thousand people, the western media and news outlets continue to say, ‘according to the Hamas-run health ministry’ after announcing the death toll. The health ministry’s account of the death toll in Gaza has been broadly trusted by the UN and other international agencies, some of which operate in Gaza directly. In the past, there have been small discrepancies between the Hamas-Health Ministry account of the death toll in Gaza and the actual account, and it must also be noted that a lot of the civil servants who worked in Gaza had worked there before Hamas took charge. Yet for some reason, the western mainstream media fail to mention this as regularly as they mention the term ‘Hamas-run health ministry’ after every death count announcement. This insinuates to the already majority anti-Hamas population that the death count may be lower than what is announced and therefore whitewashes the reality of the Palestinian suffering in Gaza. Not just that, but after the IDF has been proven to lie about their death toll and casualty rate they still do not push them or insinuate that the IDF’s account on certain matters may be false, but rather give them a tone of truthfulness and a picture of professionalism.
Counting the death toll in every other war
When the colonial state of Israel was established in 1948 with the disapproval of majority Muslim states, the bloodshed that ensued between the Arab armies was one of the bloodiest in the history of Palestinian aggression. Although the true death toll to this day cannot be verified, estimates put it at 15000. The 1956 war fought by the president and founder of Egypt, Gamal-Abdel Nasser, which was a war started by Israel and backed by the UK and France, resulted in the deaths of more than three thousand Arabs and Palestinians. The war preceding it in 1962 was the six-day war. A war that was again started by Israel but fought against Egypt, Syria, and Jordan and led to the deaths of twenty thousand Arabs with both soldiers and civilians alike. This war was one of the bloodiest conflicts in the history of the Arab world during the 20th century, and it far surpasses the deaths during the founding of Israel itself. Yet the 1973 Yom Kippur war fought against Egypt and Syria had a similar number of deaths, and the 1982 Lebanon war, which some analysts would say was the bloodiest of all the Arab wars that preceded, had a death toll of more than twenty thousand too. This Gaza genocide that we are currently facing has a current death toll of about 20 thousand too; however, what this number does not take into account is the number of people missing under the rubble. A Gazan official has said more than 8,000 people are trapped under the rubble, with 70% of them being women and children. It is likely that a lot of those stuck under the rubble who are unaccounted for have passed away due to their inaccessibility, and therefore the true Palestinian death count in Gaza has surpassed the official count by thousands. Therefore, this makes the genocide in Gaza the deadliest conflict that the Palestinians or Arabs have had to face in their history since the establishment of the occupational force named Israel.
Today the UN Security Council voted for more aid into Gaza but rejected a Russian amendment before the vote to call for an ‘end to hostilities’ because of a US veto.
How could it get this far?
When we compare the current genocide in Gaza with the wars and mass slaughter of Palestinians and Arabs during the 20thcentury, it makes us wonder how this genocide could reach this level. How it could be accepted even after the bloodshed has reached a new height never seen before. How is it possible that neighbouring nations that once fought for Palestine have now decided to normalise relations and not send a single weapon or man to aid the Palestinian people in their resistance, even while knowing this is the bloodiest atrocity to inflict the Arabs in almost a century? How is it possible that the entirety of the United Nations security council voted for a ceasefire yet remain withheld because of one voter, the United States? How is it even feasible that the world powers choose to still recognise Israel even after seeing the genocidal tendencies the Israelis feel they are entitled to? The answer to all these questions lies in the current international liberal world order that the world is so scared to challenge. The order of nations being forced to stay within their post-colonial borders even if drawn unjustly. The order of nations respecting international law when it’s dictated by one voter with veto power. The order or system that gives more importance to the white Israeli civilian killed than that of Palestinian children, journalists, and babies. The world system that has propelled the world into this current complicity and oppression is what truly needs changing for there to be an end to this kind of oppression. The only way this can happen is if the current international liberal world order is no more.
