Gaza: still under bombardment as we enter the New Year.
Not far off three months on, with no ceasefire in sight, it seems there is no end to the hell being visited upon the children, women and men of Gaza as Israel continues commit war crimes and genocide in its determination to eradicate Hamas. Meantime, on Christmas Day, Israel intensified its raids on the occupied West Bank – Bethlehem included.
As we end this year we join with millions around the world calling CEASEFIRE NOW, including the release of all remaining hostages. Our hearts are heavy with the incomprehensible collective punishment being inflicted on a trapped and innocent civilian population, by a nation armed by the USA administration, UK government and others.
Below are links to the Christmas sermon from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, calling out the West’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza; the latest research from our colleagues at Scientists for Global Responsibility on the intensity of the Gaza bombardment; and a piece on Gaza by our colleague Leila Sansour (Open Bethlehem) for ITV News.
As we end 2023, we wish everyone a peaceful New Year.
To all our grant-givers, major donors and regular givers who have supported our work throughout the year – we say THANK YOU.
With very best wishes from everyone at TPNS.
*************************
LINKS
Christ in the Rubble. A Liturgy of Lament.
Dr. Munther Isaac, Palestinian Christian theologian and Evangelical Lutheran Pastor, Bethlehem.
Silence is complicity, and empty calls for peace without a ceasefire and end to occupation, and the shallow words of empathy without direct action — are all under the banner of complicity. So here is my message: Gaza today has become the moral compass of the world. Gaza was hell on earth before October 7th.
https://transformdefence.org/2023/12/23/christ-in-the-rubble-a-liturgy-of-lament-from-bethlehem/
Gaza: one of the most intense bombardments in history?
On 7 October, the Hamas militia attacked Israel. Since then, the Israeli military has bombarded Gaza in an effort to “obliterate” Hamas’ military infrastructure. Dr Philip Webber and Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, assess the scale of the Israeli military assault in comparison with other wars, and consider the possibilities for peace.
https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/gaza-one-most-intense-bombardments-history
Article from Responsible Science journal, no.6; advance online publication: 20 December 2023
What happened to my brothers in Gaza is inconceivable.
“The Israeli army stormed the neighbourhood,” he said his brother had told him. “We were all forced out at gunpoint. They ordered us to take off our clothes and shoes, then we were blindfolded and our hands were tied with rope behind our backs.”Children, women and men above 60 were all sent walking on foot towards Kamal Adwan hospital while we were thrown onto trucks and driven away.“
And finally…
With Gaza and Ukraine conflicts, it comes as no surprise that we end this year with ‘good news for the merchants of death’ – this from the FT via economist Adam Tooze.
The order books of the world’s biggest defence companies are near record highs after growing by more than 10 per cent in just two years because of rising geopolitical tension, including the conflict in Ukraine. An analysis by the Financial Times of 15 defence groups, including the largest US contractors, Britain’s BAE Systems and South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace, found that at the end of 2022 — the latest for which full-year data is available — their combined order backlogs were $777.6bn, up from $701.2bn two years earlier. The trend’s momentum continued into 2023. In the first six months of this year — the latest comprehensive quarterly data available — combined backlogs at these companies stood at $764bn, swelling their future pipeline of work as governments kept placing orders. The sustained spending has spurred investors’ interest in the sector. MSCI’s global benchmark for the industry’s stocks is up 25 per cent over the past 12 months. Europe’s Stoxx aerospace and defence stocks index has risen by more than 50 per cent over the same period.
Transform defence for sustainable human safety 