Wednesday, April 03, 2024

All damage is collateral.

"A deadly Israeli attack that killed seven aid workers from the non-profit World Central Kitchen (WCK) in Gaza...appears to have consisted of multiple precision strikes, a CNN analysis of aftermath videos and images found. WCK said in a statement that its team was traveling in a 'deconflicted zone' in two armored cars and one unarmored vehicle," and "The charity said it had coordinated the convoy's movements with the Israeli military." CNN. If WCK was delivering aid and had informed the Israeli military why was it using armored vehicles? Does it come under attack from Hamas? "I am outraged and heartbroken by the deaths of seven humanitarian workers from World Central Kitchen, including one American, in Gaza yesterday." "They were brave and selfless. Their deaths are a tragedy." The White House. However, "this wasn't the first time humanitarians have been killed in the Israeli-Hamas war. But this attack killed foreigners, provoking a notable response." USA Today. So who were these foreigners? One Australian, one from Poland, three from the UK and one from US/Canada. The Palestinian driver made seven. Reuters. In March, " At least 12 Palestinians drowned off the northern Gaza coast near Beit Lahia...while trying to reach airdropped parcels that had landed in the sea," and earlier, "at least five people were killed and 10 others injured when airdropped aid packages fell on them in Al Shati camp west of Gaza city." "Hamas has called on Western countries to end airdrops of aid into Gaza." CNN. To the dead person it does not matter whether it was an explosive or a sack of wheat dropped from a great height which killed her/him but the Western media gets outraged only at the deaths of their citizens. While Libyans claim tens of thousands died due to illegal bombing by NATO, AP puts the deaths at a derisory 72 to 403 while admitting that "NATO warplanes conducted more than 9,600 strike missions." In December 2013, a hellfire missile fired by a US drone killed at least 12 civilians in a wedding party in Yemen. hrw.org. Biden was the Vice President in the Obama administration when these atrocities were taking place but he was not in the least "outraged or heartbroken". The US does not count or acknowledge the hundreds of thousands of civilians, including children, it kills (watson.brown. edu), contemptuously dismissing them as "collateral damage". "As of 14 February 2024, 134 hostages remain in captivity in the Gaza strip, 130 of whom had been abducted on 7 October 2023; the other four hostages having been captured earlier." wikipedia. Israel cannot stop fighting until it has freed all the hostages and Hamas knows it is finished without using these hapless prisoners as human shields. More than 18 million people are at risk of famine in the civil war in Sudan and armed gangs are terrorizing civilians in Haiti (DH), whose capital Port-au-Prince is only 434 miles from Florida (distance calculator), but there is hardly any concern. But then, they are not citizens of Western countries. Just collateral damage.   

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