We are currently witnessing Israel carry out a genocide in the Gaza Strip. Between October 7th and 12th alone, Israel has dropped 6,000 bombs in Gaza, killing 1,417 people. After telling the Gazan population of 2.3 million, half of whom are children, to flee to Egypt, they bombed the Egypt-Gaza border. After telling Gazans to flee to shelters, they bombed the UN schools that were being used as shelters. After allowing ambulances into the bombsite to recover the injured and dead, they bombed the ambulances.
Like Israeli prime minister Netanyahu publicly announced, this was just the beginning. Israel surrounded the Gaza Strip with ground forces and on October 14, told the 1.1 million residents of the northern part of Gaza to “flee for their own safety” before issuing an order to evacuate within 24 hours. This was their way of warning of an imminent ground invasion. UN officials called the 24 hour evacuation “impossible”, while the WHO called the evacuation order a “death sentence”. They both asked Israel to withdraw the evacuation order but Israel only extended the deadline.
The health workers at the 22 hospitals that received the evacuation order refused, saying they couldn’t leave their patients behind. These health workers were killed alongside their patients. The October 17th bombing of Al-Alhi hospital killed 500 refugees, patients and health workers. Israel also bombed evacuation convoys fleeing to the southern half of Gaza via the routes that they had identified in their evacuation order. 70 people were killed. It is no different for the southern region of Gaza, which was designated as a safe zone. An entire family of refugees, 13 people including 7 children, were slaughtered. The mosque, UN school, hospital and family homes where refugees were welcomed have been bombed, causing refugees to flee back North. If they’re going to be killed anyway, they’d rather be at home, they say.
Nowhere is safe in Gaza, and not only because of the bombing. Gaza residents were already subject to collective punishment by Israel while living in the world’s largest open-air prison. In 2007, Israel blockaded Gaza from the land, air, sea and restricted the entry of basic necessities and medical supplies to a minimum while repeatedly carrying out large-scale invasions and massacres. In addition to imposing the longest blockade in modern history, they’ve now completely sealed Gaza off from the outside world, blocking the entry of electricity, water, fuel and food, while claiming this is appropriate treatment for the “human animals” of Gaza. It cannot be more blatant than this. Israel has clearly shown their intention to carry out a genocide: dehumanizing a group of people and designating them as less than human before intentionally eliminating them. The most atrocious acts of violence in modern history such as the Jewish concentration camps and the violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, are now being played out in Palestine.
What is the international society doing in response? While Western countries have supported almost all of Israel’s illegal actions throughout history, this support has never been more apparent. Western governments and media are spreading Israel’s propaganda without verification and in doing so, are actively participating in the dehumanization of Palestinian people. Completely discarding their previous stances on international law and universal human rights, they are hypocritically acting as accomplices to Israel’s war crimes and genocide. The US, the UK, France, Japan vetoed the first UN Security Council resolution that called for a ceasefire. The US also vetoed the second resolution which called for a humanitarian pause to allow for aid to reach Gaza. Moreover, the US has expressed its support for Israel, deploying two aircraft carriers and sending additional weapons with no conditions through a bipartisan agreement.
What about Korea? At this very moment that Israel is committing a genocide against Gazans, 12 Israel defense companies are participating in a Korean weapons conference, the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition (ADEX). In 2014, after Israel killed 2,251 Gazans over the course of 50 days, Korea actually increased their arms trade with Israel. The Korean government is also an accomplice to Israel’s war crimes.
These governments deny history while unconditionally supporting Israel. However, regardless of which narrative you follow, the violence did not begin on October 7, 2023. It also did not begin in 1987 when Hamas was established. In 1967, Israel militarily occupied Palestine, Syria’s Golan Heights and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. And from the start, Israel was only established as a state in 1948 through the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. All of the violence and all of the massacres stem from Israel’s colonial rule over Palestine.
It’s not just Gaza. Israeli occupation forces are increasing the intensity of military operations in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, killing countless Palestinians. Despite condemnation from the international community, they continue to build and expand their settlements, which in and of themselves constitute war crimes. The armed, illegal Israeli settlers, protected by the occupation forces, attack and kill Palestinians. Palestinian liberation fighters are imprisoned without trial, 65 laws have been passed that discriminate against the Palestinian citizens who make up 20% of Israel’s population, and Israel denies 8 million Palestinian refugees the right of return. They kill the journalists who report the truth and revoke their press credentials. Lebanon, Syria and other neighboring countries are periodically attacked and their civilians killed. The list of Israel’s war crimes goes on and on.
Western countries claim that they want to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza, which is currently being destroyed by Israel, with Israel’s cooperation. What we need is not sporadic humanitarian aid in the midst of a genocide. Israel has already killed 3,500 people, including 1,030 children and they have no plans to lift their complete blockade of Gaza. This is not acceptable. The international society must force Israel to stop their genocide immediately. But that alone is not enough. As long as Israel is colonizing Palestinian soil, as long as a racist apartheid system remains in place, Israel can carry out another genocide at any time.
With unprecedented urgency, we call for the following.
- An immediate ceasefire and protection of civilians as well as the provision of humanitarian aid
- An end to Israel’s bombing of Gaza and a lifting of the blockade
- A withdrawal of Israeli plans for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip
- Israel’s withdrawal from all occupied territories, including the Gaza Strip
- A comprehensive arms embargo by the Korean government against Israel, as well as a call for an end to Israel’s attack on Gaza
October 22, 2023
South Korean civil society
* translated by: International Strategy Center
* check the endorsers here: https://intifadakorea.wordpress.com/2023/11/04/israel-must-agree-to-a-ceasefire-and-stop-the-genocide-of-palestinians-immediately/
BDS Korea 