‘People in Gaza are starving.  The conditions are inhumane.  And our common humanity compels us to act’: Kamala Harris

 If she follows her heart and soul, and listens to her own words of deep compassion and sensitivity, she can at last bring optimism and relief to a ravaged and occupied nation, which has suffered so terribly, and for so long, for no fault of theirs. In this manner, ‘President’ Kamala Harris, as the first woman, and the first Afro-Asian woman to  head the state of America, will find her name etched in golden letters in the history of our times

By Amit Sengupta

Will Kamala Harris really do something radical to change the inhuman conditions in Gaza, and, now, West Bank, which has been anyway under the control of Tel Aviv? Will a discredited and isolated Benjamin Netanyahu ever stop the genocidal war against the trapped and condemned people of Palestine? 

Will Harris follow the observations ordained in the judgement of the International Court of Justice, and push for a final ceasefire in Gaza? Will she choose to back the process of  punishment for Netanyahu, and his cabinet and military officers, for the infinite ‘crimes against humanity’ they have so willfully committed?  

Will she, indeed, follow her own uplifting promises, and do what she has promised? 

Will she?

One fervently hopes that she does. And there is no reason why she can’t. She can do it, and she knows that she can do it. 

The world, and especially the people of Palestine, thereby, would be eternally grateful to her, for her noble statesmanship, her visionary politics, and her humanism. 

Witness what she said on record after the meeting with the Israeli leader, after he was given a standing ovation at the House of Representatives in America — much to the disgust of the entire world, including a large section of people in the US, especially the young. “There has been hopeful movement in the talks to secure an agreement on this deal. And as I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done. So to everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you and I hear you,” Harris spoke to journalists after her meeting with him, reported CNN.

“It is time for this war to end and end in a way where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self- determination,” she said. 

Earlier, in her speech at the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, at Selma, Alabama, she said: “So, before I begin today, I must address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.  What we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating. We have seen reports of families eating leaves or animal feed, women giving birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care, and children dying from malnutrition and dehydration.” (The White House, March 23, 2024.)

“…As I have said many times, too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.  And just a few days ago, we saw hungry, desperate people approach aid trucks, simply trying to secure food for their families after weeks of nearly no aid reaching Northern Gaza. And they were met with gunfire and chaos… Our hearts break for the victims of that horrific tragedy, and for all the innocent people in Gaza, who are suffering from what is clearly a humanitarian catastrophe… 

“… People in Gaza are starving.  The conditions are inhumane.  And our common humanity compels us to act.”

However, nothing seems to be changing on the ground. Serial killings of innocents continues in Gaza. This spate of organized murders has now spread to West Bank, triggering another wave of dying and death. 

Among other cold-blooded murders was that of a young, talented and brave journalist, Ismail al Ghoul, and his cameraman, Rami al-Rifi, of Al Jazeera. More than 100 journalists have been killed by Israel, some of them victims of targeted assassination.

In a statement, Al Jazeera Media Network called the killings a “targeted assassination”. They promised to “pursue all legal actions to prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes”. 

Meanwhile, as the poll heats up in the US, and Donald Trump finds himself on a sticky wicket, in a Democratic convention, hundreds of protesters seeking justice for the people of Palestine, raised slogans holding placards. There is no doubt that Palestine and the Genocide in Gaza is going to be a key factor in the US polls, especially when it comes to the electoral fortune of Kamala Harris.

Harris said, in the midst of the protests, and the sustained peaceful movement of thousands of students which rocked the university campuses of America: “Let me be clear, I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself, because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7, including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival,” Harris said.

She continued: “At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost. Desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, over and over again. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking.”

Political activists and critics argue that will she dissociate herself from AIPAC, the shadowy pro-Tel Aviv outfit, so powerful and cash-rich, that it is well-nigh impossible to defy it? 

Harris, when she just about became an American senator from California, addressed the annual AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington on March 28, 2017. During an 18-minute speech interrupted a dozen times by applause, she promised “to do everything in my power to ensure broad and bipartisan support for Israel’s security and right to self-defense”.

“So let me be clear about what I believe. I stand with Israel because of our shared values, which are so fundamental to the founding of both our nations. I believe the bonds between the United States and Israel are unbreakable, and we can never let anyone drive a wedge between us. Our bonds are rooted in our shared history and are strengthened by the ties between our peoples. And in the words of Shimon Peres, whose loss we mourn so deeply, ‘For Israel’s existence, we need the friendship of the United States of America.’

So much so, the latest trends reflect that a large number of Latinos, people among the Black community, students and millennials, are overwhelmingly backing her, and ready to vote for her, wishing that she would create an offbeat discourse in mainstream politics. Now that Bernie Sanders and the ‘Squad’ led by the likes of Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are backing her wholeheartedly, will she take the cause close to their heart, and redefine the established American foreign policy on Israel and Palestine?  

Meanwhile, something Harris is certainly aware of, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out an airstrike on a ‘humanitarian aid convoy’ in Gaza. Anera, the US-based voluntary organization, was carrying crucial medical supplies for a hospital in Rafah, on the Egyptian border. The IDF, apparently, was aware of the route, since it was a part of a deal not to bomb aid supplies to the refugee camps and severely damaged hospitals. 

 Predictably, they had identified “armed assailants” in the convoy. In contrast, the charity said that the people murdered were actually the staffers of the transport company.

Anera’s Palestine country director, Sandra Rasheed, said: “This is a shocking incident. The convoy, which was coordinated by Anera and approved by Israeli authorities, included an Anera employee who was fortunately unharmed. Tragically, several individuals, all employed by the transportation company we work with, were killed in the attack. They were in the first vehicle of the convoy.”

Earlier, Israeli soldiers had attacked a World Food Programme vehicle marked with UN insignia. The WFP informed said the vehicle was hit by 10 bullets at an Israeli checkpoint in Wadi Gaza. WFP head, Cindy McCain, said that this kind of attack was “totally unacceptable”. 

The IDF had also killed seven workers involved in aid supplies using a drone on April 1. The workers belonged to the World Central Kitchen charity. 

The latest is that in the drive by health workers for polio vaccinations to over 640,000 children, Israel has reportedly promised to halt military operations for a while. The operations would have paused from 6 am to 3 pm in Northern Gaza.

Of late, the surviving children in Gaza have been hit by a wave of polio, among other diseases stalking the refugee camps. At least 1.26 million doses of vaccines have been accessed from Indonesia by the WHO.

Meanwhile, scores of Israeli hostages continue to suffer, held by Hamas, perhaps, in unknown locations. If Gaza has been totally destroyed, including its labyrinthine tunnel systems which gave shelter to the guerilas, then where is Hamas hiding the hostages? 

Besides, despite the sustained onslaught, including on their hide-outs, there seems no reason to believe that Hamas has been totally destroyed. Instead, there are reports that the underground organization is being joined by scores of new recruits, given the angst and anger that has spread in repeated waves, after the genocide.

As the conflict drags on, Netanyahu seems to be in no mood to secure the release of the beleagured hostages, even as their relatives cry silent tears. While no truce has yet been brokered, with repeated breakdown in talks in Qatar, observers believe that the Israeli prime minister wants to somehow drag on the conflict, so as to save his skin from the inevitable removal of power. 

Desperate loved ones of the hostages, were compelled to rush towards the Gaza border recently, in a defiant action to protest the insensitivity displayed by their regime. While Netanyahu seems to reject a cease-fire deal, the families want exactly that.  

In another development, Dropsite reports that spy agencies of Tel Aviv are now trying to blackmail certain Palestinians to turn into their informers. In a dark twist, they seem to be targeting the vulnerable LGBT community, among other potential targets. 

All in all, as multiple wounds continue to simmer in Gaza, one hopes that the presidential polls in the US, would lead to the defeat of Donald Trump. One also hopes that Kamala Harris, as president, would walk, not the beaten track, and, instead, usher in a government, which is decisively different from most American regimes of the past.

US governments have either manufactured deadly wars and mass suffering across the world, or have backed rogue regimes which have cared little for their own citizens. At least, Trump did not inflict war and tragedy during his term, especially in the Middle-East, which is the eternal playground of the US. 

Indeed, among her other endevours, including radical social welfare schemes for ordinary folks and the middle-class, her first task would be to restore peace in Gaza, heal the wounds of the people of Palestine, and stop the latest attacks in the West Bank. And there is no reason why she cannot do it. 

If she follows her heart and soul, and listens to her own words of deep compassion and sensitivity, she can at last bring optimism and relief to a ravaged and occupied nation, which has suffered so terribly, and for so long, for no fault of theirs. In this manner, ‘President’ Kamala Harris, as the first woman, and the first Afro-Asian woman to  head the state of America, will find her name etched in golden letters in the history of our times.