DE FACTO: America’s culpability in Gaza cannot be overlooked

The irony of the Gaza War is not lost on people. Number one offender, America, continues to speak out of both sides of its mouth. It has a horrid history of double-speak when it comes to war. Another $20 billion deal has just been signed between Israel and the US for weapons.
Cue the ‘American good guys’ who rush to build a pontoon to bring aid ashore in the Gaza Strip. For what? To assist those who have been cut open, left starving and homeless by American-made munitions? You couldn’t make it up.
The Israeli Government and Hamas are equally culpable. Both care less about who they kill or maim or what infrastructural damage they do. The heinous act of Hamas on October 7 last can never be justified, killing almost 1,140 innocent people (Jewish, foreigners, adults and children) and taking 251 people hostage (adults and children). Neither can the ongoing crucifixion of innocent Palestinians by an out-of-control Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
How many IDF ‘investigations’ are ongoing since the war started over their blatant killing of innocent women, children and volunteer workers (Palestinian and foreign)? And all this from the use of ‘precision-guided munitions’ or ‘smart weapons’ and ‘smart bombs’. The trouble with such titles is that they do not reflect what they are supposed to mean.
Smart weapons in IDF hands have done nothing about reducing ‘collateral damage’ but have rather inflicted the mass killing of innocent people and the indiscriminate destruction of property. Palestinians cannot defend themselves. They have no planes or tanks. Some of the ‘safe’ places they have been directed to in Gaza by the IDF have subsequently been bombed with huge loss of life.
For the record: at the time of writing, August 14, 2024, the news station Al Jazeera reported that 39,965 Palestinian people have been killed in Gaza, and 92,294 wounded. ABC News reported that almost 15,000 of the dead are children, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The UN estimates that more than 70 percent of Gaza’s total housing stock has been affected by the war. A full 370,000 housing units have been damaged, with almost 80,000 completely destroyed. According to the Washington Post, based on a World Bank Report from Feb 2024, it is estimated that 1.2 million people are facing homelessness in Gaza. Since the war started the Israelis have also destroyed over 2,000 Palestinian homes in the West Bank. And Israel has incarcerated thousands of Palestinians, aka hostages.
Staying on figures, the latest US-Israeli arms deal includes 50 F-15 fighter-jets, almost 33,000 tank cartridges, up to 50,000 explosive mortar cartridges and new military cargo vehicles. The jets are due in 2029, while, according to the US State Department, the tank cartridges “will improve Israel’s capability to meet current and future enemy threats, strengthen its homeland defense and serve as a deterrent to regional threats.”
There have been regular calls for the expulsion of the Israeli Ambassador to Ireland. Before being recalled (after Ireland recognised Palestine) Ambassador Dana Erlich did her best to incite fear in people and accuse anyone who opposed the madness of Netanyahu and the IDF as antisemitic. This nonsense talk from a diplomat betrays the good name of the Jewish people and drags the proud nation of Israel in the mud.
If expelling ambassadors was a worthwhile exercise then we should be calling for the expulsion of the US Ambassador for supporting such a devious government currently in power in Israel. Israel cannot function as the lunatic state it currently is without the imprimatur of the US.
Why are we not appalled with America? Joe Biden might have done the US a favour by withdrawing from the Presidential race, but he could do the world a bigger favour by withdrawing support for an unrestrained and depraved Israeli administration.
While President Michael D Higgins and the Irish Government have consistently challenged Israeli genocidal actions they must also challenge the United States. Americans needs to hear about the death and destruction that is being caused by their tax dollars.
Shame on the American Government. Palestinian lives matter.