‘Until Palestine is free…not one single one of us in this room is free.’
“Our liberation is bound up in the liberation of others around the globe… this is not just about some leftist cliche. It’s about understanding that the networks and the institutions of power are connected.”
Activist and historian, Marc Lamont Hill spoke about the history and importance of being allies during a panel at the Congressional Black Caucus conference in Washington, DC, moderated by Mehdi Hasan. The panel was hosted by Congresswoman Cori Bush, who opened up about risking her entire political career to lead a permanent ceasefire resolution for Gaza and included speakers Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman.
Watch their lively and engaging conversation on Black and Palestinian Solidarity, and on why Palestine is not just a Muslim or Arab issue, but a global one.
"A Genocidal Project": Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah on Israel's Destruction of Gaza Health System
Gaza's Health Ministry has confirmed that close to 46,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's ongoing assault, but Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah estimates the true number is closer to 300,000.
"This is literally and mathematically a genocidal project," says Abu-Sittah, a British Palestinian reconstructive surgeon who worked in Gaza for over a month treating patients at both Al-Shifa and Al-Ahli Baptist hospitals. Israel continues to attack what remains of the besieged territory's medical infrastructure. On Sunday, an Israeli attack on the upper floor of al-Wafa Hospital in Gaza City killed at least seven people and wounded several others. On Friday, Israeli troops stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital, northern Gaza's last major functioning hospital, and set the facility on fire. Many staff and patients were reportedly forced to go outside and strip in winter weather. The director of Kamal Adwan, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, was arrested, and his whereabouts remain unknown.
"It's been obvious from the beginning that Israel has been wiping out a whole generation of health professionals in Gaza as a way of increasing the genocidal death toll but also of permanently making Gaza uninhabitable," says Abu-Sittah. "On the 7th of October, the Israelis crossed that genocidal Rubicon that settler-colonial projects cross."
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