“This Is a Genocidal Project”

. . . [one] that extends from Tel Aviv to London
to Washington to Paris to Rome

The world is watching a genocide being systematically and brutally unleashed on the Palestinian population in Gaza.

British Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu-Sittah (right) reminds us that the perpetrators and enablers of this atrocity are not just within the Israeli government but also in Western governments and media organizations.

Last Monday Dr. Abu-Sittah was interviewed by Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman. In this interview, Dr. Abu-Sittah provides one of the most harrowing yet essential witness accounts and analysis of the situation in Gaza.

[F]rom the very beginning, this [has] been a war Israel declared on Palestinian children. . . . Israel wants to wipe out Palestinian children, because Palestinian children represent the Palestinian tomorrow that is incompatible with the Zionist settler-colonial project. Zionists cannot envision a Palestinian tomorrow and [are] targeting Palestinian children. . . . [S]uch is the aim of the settler-colonialist genocidal war, to dehumanize these children, that my colleagues and I wanted to maintain their dignity and wanted to not just bear witness but to hold on to anything that makes us and them human in the face of this dehumanizing war machine. And so we insisted that whenever there was a limb that was amputated, that it gets the right burial and that this child’s name is on that amputated limb and that we maintain the dignity of our patient to the extent that we can.

Following is Democracy Now!’s complete 35-minute interview with Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah.

[O]ne of the things you do realize when you leave this death world in Gaza and you come out to the outside world is that you come to realize that Israel is just the tip of genocidal iceberg, that the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, all of these NATO countries represent the remainder of the genocidal project. And these countries are not just supporting Israel. They are supporting Israel’s genocidal project, because, as the Colombian president said, they want to send the message to any other troublesome Native who considers changing the rules of the global game by rebelling.

And so, when we talk about the genocide, we should not just talk about the Israelis as the perpetrators of the genocide. We should talk about the “Axis of Genocide,” these countries, these governments that are perpetuating this genocide. And we know just not just this article. There’s also been another article showing how much intelligence information has been passed on to the Israelis that ensured the Israelis are able to carry out these massacres. And so, when we talk about the genocide, it’s an American, British, French, European genocide against the Palestinian people, of which Israel is the spearhead but not just the sole perpetrator.

. . . [T]his is a genocidal project that extends from Tel Aviv to London to Washington to Paris to Rome – to all of these countries. These are genocidal partners, complicit in an attempt to wipe out the Palestinian people. The 200,000, hundreds of thousands of people who are coming out every weekend, be it in Europe or North America, are basically saying, “Not in our name.” They will not be complicit in the acts of genocide that their governments are perpetrating. These people want to absolve themselves from what their governments are doing, by refusing to be part of a genocidal war in the 21st century.

– Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah
April 1, 2024

Above: A bloodied Palestinian child standing in the aftermath of an Israeli bombardment – Gaza, Palestine, October 25, 2023. (AA Photo)

Related Off-site Links:
The Mutually Reinforcing American and Israeli Empires – Ralph Nader (Common Dreams, April 6, 2024).
In Gaza and Beyond, War Itself Is the Problem – Robert C. Koehler (Common Dreams, April 6, 2024).
After “One Phone Call” With Biden, Israel Opens Erez Crossing to Increase Gaza Aid – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, April 5, 2024).
Journalist Abby Martin Explains Why She Considers Israel’s Actions in Gaza to Constitute Genocide – Middle East Eye (April 3, 2024).
Briahna Joy Gray Unpacks IDF Lies About the Slaughter of World Central Kitchen Aid Workers in Gaza – Rising (April 3, 2024).
“A War Machine Out of Control”: Israel Keeps Attacking Aid Workers as Gaza Faces Famine – Democracy Now! (April 3, 2024).
Trump Breaks with Pro-Netanyahu Corner; Tells Israeli Media He Supports Ending War in Gaza – Rising (April 2, 2024).
Draft U.N, Report Finds Israel Has Met Threshold for Genocide – Brett Wilkins (Common Dreams, March 25, 2024).
As Israel Blocks More U.N. Aid, Gaza Is on the Brink of “Most Intense Famine” Since WW2 – Democracy Now! (March 25, 2024).
“Children Are Dying”: Doctor Just Back from Gaza Describes Severe Malnutrition and Preventable Infections – Democracy Now! (March 22, 2024).
UN Chief Says It’s Time to “Truly Flood” Gaza with Aid and Calls Starvation There an Outrage – Samy Magdy, Amr Nabil and Sam Metz (AP News, March 22, 2023).
Sen. Bernie Sanders: “The Netanyahu Government Should Not Receive Another Penny from the U.S.” – Common Dreams, March 23, 2024).
U.N. Panel Says IDF Appears Set on “Physical Destruction of Palestinian Children” – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, March 22, 2024).
There Is No Moral Argument That Justifies the Sale of Weapons to Israel – Mary Lawlor (The Guardian, March 21, 2024).
Former U.S. Diplomat Says “Collaboration” in Gaza Genocide Could Make Biden “Target of Prosecution” – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, March 21, 2024).
“Everyone in the World Needs to See This”: Footage Shows IDF Drone Killing Gazans – Jessica Corbett (Common Dreams, March 21, 2024).
British Surgeon Describes Children Suffering “Appalling Injuries” in Gaza, Demands Immediate Ceasefire – Democracy Now! (March 21, 2024).
The West Is Complicit in Israel’s Genocide – Yanis Varoufakis amd Raoul Martinez (Novara Media, February 17, 2024).
Why Must Palestinians Audition for Your Empathy? – Hala Alyan (Salt Lake Tribune, October 29, 2023).
Israeli Society Is Fascist: An Interview with Abby Martin of The Empire Files

UPDATES: “Genocidal Actions” Persist in Gaza as Israel Blocks Aid and U.S. Weapons Flow – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, April 12, 2024).
Nicaragua Takes Germany to the World Court for Facilitating Israel’s Genocide – Marjorie Cohn (TruthOut, April 13, 2024).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• “A Genocide Has Been Normalized”
• Voices of Reason and Compassion on the Crisis in Israel and Gaza
• More Voices of Reason and Compassion on the Crisis in Israel and Gaza
• Josh Paul: Quote of the Day – March 28, 2024
• Phyllis Bennis: Quote of the Day – March 28, 2024
• Michael Fakhri: Quote of the Day – February 27, 2024
• Sabrina Salvati: Quote of the Day – January 2, 2024
• Christmas 2023 – Reflections, Activism, Art, and Celebrations
• Jehad Abusalim: Quote of the Day – December 8, 2023
• Ta-Nehisi Coates: Quote of the Day – November 2, 2023
• In the Midst of the “Great Unraveling,” a Visit to the Prayer Tree
• Prayer of the Week – October 16, 2023
• Something to Think About – October 12, 2023
• Eric Levitz: Quote of the Day – October 11, 2023
• Phyllis Bennis: “If We Are Serious About Ending This Spiraling Violence, We Need to Look at Root Causes”
• “Nothing About Today is ‘Unprovoked’”
• “The Mistreatment and Discrimination Against Palestinians Is Not Unprecedented. It’s Baked Into the Foundation of the Political System in Israel”
• Progressive Perspectives on the Ongoing Israeli-Palestinian “Nightmare” (2021)
• Something to Think About – July 29, 2018
• Noura Erakat: Quote of the Day – May 15, 2018
• For Some Jews, Israel’s Treatment of Palestinians is Yet Another Jewish Tragedy
• Remembering the Six-Day War and Its Ongoing Aftermath
• David Norris: Quote of the Day – August 12, 2014

Opening image: U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet in Tel Aviv, Israel on October 18, 2023. (Photo: GPO / Handout / Anadolu via Getty Images)
Image 2: Palestinian children wounded in Israeli strikes are brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Wednesday, October. 11, 2023. (Photo: Ali Mahmoud / AP)