Now you, also, know the names of two of the slaughtered

By Herbert Rothschild

Faithful readers of my columns may remember the backstory to the image that accompanies today’s column. In an indirect way I connected with a Palestinian who had been a merchant marine captain but returned to Gaza to help care for the victims of Israel’s unrelenting assaults. With his permission, on June 7, 2024, I published this excerpt from one of his communications:

“It is with saddened heart that I convey to you the loss of two members of my team. Nora is 32 years old lady and Amed, 41 years old man (he preferred to be called Boy). Both have been martyred together while they were trying to rescue a family of six who were under the rubble of their destroyed home. The IOF (Israel Defense Forces, which Capt. Eissa calls Offense) tank fired at Nora and Ahmed while they were saving lives, and the IOF knew they were only a rescue team and they couldn’t be any danger to them, still they murdered them.

“I retrieved their bodies and just finished their burial (Janazah). Rebecca, part of me is buried with them. They are among the best souls I have ever known. May they rest in peace, May Allah have mercy on their souls. (when speaking about them, I am using is and are and never was/were). I made a vow while at their graves that their heroism, sacrifice, and humanity shall never be forgotten . . . their story must be told.”

Because Capt. Eissa learned that in my small way I helped him tell Nora and Ahmed’s story, he decided to share one of his Master Mariner epaulettes with me. He sent it to my friend Brenda Gould, who lives in Ashland — she was a link in the chain that connected him to me — and I received it from her a week ago. In our home it radiates sadness and beauty.

In the news media, Israel’s bombing of Iran diverted attention from its continuing ethnic cleansing on the West Bank and genocide in Gaza. We mustn’t let ours be diverted.

After imposing a total embargo on Gaza from March 2 to May 19, Israel fended off the protests of even its staunchest allies by colluding with the Trump administration to create the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Through the GHF Israel controls the distribution of food in Gaza, replacing international aid organizations.

In Capt. Eissa’s latest communication to Brenda, he wrote, “You may have heard about the killing of many starving people in the aid distribution centers operated by the so-called GHF, it is a daily massacre.”

That firsthand report received corroboration this Tuesday when more than 150 charities and aid groups, including Oxfam and Save the Children, accused Israeli forces and armed groups of “routinely” opening fire on Palestinians seeking aid.

In a joint statement, the organizations said that GHF’s plan was to force 2 million starving people to trek through dangerous terrain and active conflict zones to reach the militarized distribution sites, where they have to “fight” for limited food supplies in “chaotic enclosures.” More than 500 Palestinians have been killed and almost 4,000 injured in fewer than four weeks while trying to access food. A week ago, the United Nations condemned the GHF aid system, with Secretary-General António Guterres on Friday calling it “inherently unsafe.”

Trump announced that a ceasefire is in the making, and Netanyahu is scheduled to visit the White House Monday. Perhaps not coincidentally, Israel has intensified its bombing. On Monday, at least four schools in northern Gaza that shelter hundreds of families were bombed, in addition to homes and other civilian areas. In Deir al-Balah, the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital complex was struck. Israeli warplanes also bombed al-Baqa, a seafront cafe, reportedly killing more than 30 people.

On Sunday and Monday, the Israeli military issued orders for Palestinians in areas of Gaza City and Jabaliya to relocate to al-Mawasi in the south. Al-Mawasi is designated a “humanitarian zone,” but nonetheless it has been repeatedly targeted. More than 82% of the land area of Gaza is now under displacement orders or in militarized zones.

Here in the U.S., Zionists are intensifying their efforts to silence opposition to Israel’s cruelties. Their easiest targets have been pro-Palestinian advocates who are in this country legally but aren’t citizens.

Trump has implemented this agenda of First Amendment suppression. Early in his term he threatened universities, especially Columbia and Harvard, if they didn’t end what he called “antisemitic” activities on their campuses. He arrested Palestinians who led protest movements there. Most notable was Mahmoud Khalil, who spent 104 days in ICE custody before a vigorous grassroots campaign secured his release on bail.

The identifying and doxxing of those opposed to Israel’s actions has become systematic. A group named Canary Mission maintains files on people and groups that it claims promote hatred of the United States, Israel and Jews on North American college campuses. Jewish Voice for Peace, of which I’m a member, is one of the groups. Another organization, Betar US, boasts that it has provided thousands of names of pro‑Palestinian visa‑holding students to the Trump administration, with the goal of investigation and deportation.

Betar is so aggressive that the Anti-Defamation League, whose main mission is to combat antisemitism, has labeled it an extremist group. Leaked chats indicate that Betar is planning street confrontations and provocations in New York City, including attacking pro-Palestinian demonstrators with pepper spray and burning Qurans. I have only found one source for that last report, but the Betar website boasts that “We are not quiet. We are not polite.”

The unhappy irony of this effort to suppress criticism of Israel is that antisemitism is spreading rapidly. In its report of antisemitic episodes in the U.S. in 2024, ADL recorded 9,354 incidents, a 344% increase over the past five years and an 893% increase over the past decade. More than once I’ve made the point in Relocations that the Zionist attempt to silence critics of Israel by calling them antisemitic authorizes them to similarly erase the distinction and hold all Jews accountable for what Israel is doing to the Palestinians.   

The best way to stop the spread of antisemitism now is to stop supporting Israel.

Herbert Rothschild’s columns appear Fridays. Opinions expressed in them represent the author’s views. Email Rothschild at [email protected].