Genocide by Air

 

Jonathan Woodrow Martin

Photograph Source: Norsk Folkehjelp Norwegian People’s Aid from Norway – CC BY 2.0

An estimated 75,000+ tons of bombs have been dropped on Palestinians in Gaza since October 7^th 2023.

The Palestinian government, and armed groups, in Gaza have absolutely no air defences, whatsoever, and the Palestinian people have no air raid shelters, unlike the perpetrators of the genocide. What we have witnessed for over a year is the most expensive and “advanced” weapons systems in human history targeted upon an entirely defenceless people. There has never been a comparable amount of bombs dropped, on an overwhelmingly civilian population, in such a small area, in this short a time period. Between 1940-1945, U.S. and British air forces dropped an estimated 2.7 million tons of bombs on Europe, half of that amount on Germany.  Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam were all heavily saturated from the air in America’s genocide in South East Asia during the 60s and 70s. Iraq was bombed for over 20 years by American and allied forces with different periods of heightened bombings. These were huge areas of land in comparison to Gaza, which is the most densely populated living space in the world.

The occupation forces’ F-35s, F-16s and F15s, surveillance and armed drones, Apache Helicopters and unmanned quadcopters have dominated and swarmed the skies of the Palestinians. These aerial weapons systems and their bombs have been mainly supplied by the western allies and have also been supported by numerous air re-supply missions, spy flights and patrols flown by their western allies-in-genocide.

We have seen recently some excellent and crucial investigation of the absolutely dreadful war crimes committed by the occupation forces on the ground in Gaza.  We have seen these war criminals’ faces, know their names and at least a portion of their crimes on-the-ground. The crimes committed from the air in comparison are self-evident but also distant, to those outside Gaza, with no face or name to put to the crimes. The moment that struck me most from this recent slew of excellent investigative journalism was from the “Holy Redemption: Stealing Palestinian Land”. The investigative team is with a settler in Northern occupied Palestine, a settler who has set-up a primitive and illegal outpost on Palestinian land, apparently looking to live a ‘simple’ life as an illegal settler farming land that is not his. In this clip the settler glances up as an advanced military helicopter, potentially an Apache, soars through the sky, on its way to Gaza, which as he comments is very close to where they sit. This jarring moment of a settler happily sitting on Palestinian land he has stolen, in peasant clothing, and the military might that makes it possible, on its way to carry out more massacres. He is then asked how he feels about the images coming out from Gaza, he responds; “I feel happy” and continues, quoting the Bible; “The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked”.

The apocalyptic outcome for the Palestinians of this partnership between Zionism, a fascist corruption of Judaism and the most modern and lethal weapons in history is then shown as it cuts back to the immense physical destruction of homes, building and infrastructure in Gaza, caused mainly by the aerial genocide.

We are now approaching, marking and passing the dozens of individual aerial massacres that have taken place the last year, some of which murdered dozens and 100s of people, in one air strike, in the process wiping out entire Palestinian families and areas.

+ Shehab family massacre, 55-63 killed, Airstrikes, October 12, 2023

+ Sheikh Radwan six-story building airstrike, 40+ killed, Airstrike, October 10, 2023

+ Nofal family massacre, 27-30 killed, Airstrike, October 13, 2023

+ North Gaza fleeing convoy massacre, 12-71 killed & 150-201 injured, Airstrike, October 13, 2023

+ Jabalia refugee camp massacre, 95+ killed & 777+ injured, Airstrikes, October 31, 2023

+ Engineer’s Building airstrike, 106+ killed, Airstrike, October 31, 2023

There are many, many more examples, and they continue to be added to on a daily basis.

A recent letter from US doctors who have served in Gaza reached the conclusion that 118,000+ Palestinians have been murdered in this genocide, both directly and indirectly.  The effects of bombing water supplies, sanitation systems, hospitals, roads, aid trucks have led to many more deaths than the aerial massacres.

Apart from the quadcopters and AI targeting systems, which are uniquely evil apartheid state creations, and no doubt will be exported around the world very soon, all of these aerial weapon’s systems were and are being continually supplied by their western allies.  The genocide by air would not be possible without these imports, not possible at all.

This is why we see individuals and groups target the production and political decision making in supplying these tools of genocide.  Palestine Action in the UK, and around the world, have continually targeted production facilities involved in the making of F-35s and drones, some of the ‘good’ politicians in the UK have continually called for the halting of these weapons sales to the genociders. People and organisations are in the streets and outside weapons factories continually demanding “Stop bombing Gaza” and “Stop arming Israel”.

These are not meaningless or empty actions and chants, they are demands from the citizenry to stop the genocide and to enforce our national and international laws.

We are involved, we are doing the genocide, we have the means to stop it, and we must.

Jonathan Woodrow Martin is a graduate of HCRI institute at The University of Manchester and can be reached at jwoodrowm@gmail.com.      

https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/10/10/genocide-by-air/