Reflections on Day 216 of genocide

10 May, 2024

Hello Friends and Family,

On Thursdays I am fasting and using the money from lunch and the time gained to reflect and write to you, donate to UNRWA (still defunded by the US) and pray with Sabeel’s wave of prayer. Below is this week’s reflection:

I had two ideas this week. Students continue to hold space in the People’s University for Palestine at Stanford, and President Saller and the administration have continued to collect names of students participating and threatening suspension and expulsion for violating policies policing the use of “free speech” space and “overnight camping.” I wanted to think through how the 76th anniversary of the Nakba shapes understandings of effect of private ownership of land and anti houseless people policy. I have also been thinking about the audience of this newsletter who are primarily connected to me through my church, a church that has a commitment to stand against empire and the theologies of empire. Soon, I want to reflect more carefully about what we mean when we say empire and the possibilities and limitations of the frame with some help from liberation and Palestinian theologians.

However, given some time constraints, my exhaustion having eaten very little today, and listening live to the ICJ case of South Africa v Israel on KPFA this morning, I am shifting the content a little bit. What follows are direct quotes from the Verbatim Record of the ICJ South Africa v. Israel trial hearings this morning interspersed with this weeks Sabeel Wave of Prayer.

![[SmartSelect_20240516_142531_Samsung Notes 1.jpg]]

When South Africa appeared before you on 11 January, urgently requesting then an order for the cessation of Israel’s military operations, humanitarians were already “out of words” to describe the situation in Gaza. Today, they say there are “no words . . . left that can do any justice to the people of Gaza”221. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have since been killed or injured including one child killed or wounded every 10 minutes since Israel’s military operations began, including an almost incomprehensible number of child amputees…

Israel’s attack on Rafah, its attempt to control all of Gaza’s borders, followed by attacks on the north and middle areas in recent days… herald a ’turning point’ beyond which ’there is no going back.’ (SA v Israel, 52-53)

![[SmartSelect_20240516_145353_Samsung Notes.jpg]] Source, Al Jazeera

Earlier last week, Hamas accepted an Egyptian-Qatari mediated cease-fire proposal. After the acceptance of Hamas, the Israeli military began bombing Rafah and fighting broke out at the border of Rafah. Many have been killed, including children. Humanitarian aid entering Gaza from Rafah has completely halted. Rafah hospitals are shutting down and according to UNRWA over 110,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah. (Sabeel Wave of Prayer)

Recent evidence from a former Israeli reservist active in Gaza indicates that soldiers on the ground treat Israeli-ordered “evacuation areas” such as those recently ordered for significant parts of Rafah and northern Gaza as ‘extermination zones’ wherein orders to “shoot and kill” Palestinians are made based on the basis of their location alone. (SA v Israel, 53)

The true extent of suffering in Rafah is unknown; all eyes on Rafah.

God who was, and is and is to come, like Jesus, our souls are overwhelmed with sorrow by the actions of the empires. The present circumstances seem to have no end in sight. The experience of loss and pain will remain with us until we die. Lord, ensure us that you are present with those suffering in Rafah and that you see all evil deeds whether they are in the light or in the dark. Lord, teach us how to lament so that we can actively work for an alternative reality. (Sabeel Wave of Prayer)

There is a danger which stems from a form of amnesia and denial by former colonial powers in relation to the crimes associated with colonial violence perpetrated against indigenous peoples. This denial includes the denial of genocide. This denial is clearly at play in Palestine…

[the acusation of genocide] is not being labeled against any people based on their ethnicity… rather, it is being labeled at those political and military leaders who have political and military leaders who have dehumanized the Palestinian people through genocidal rhetoric as “human animals”, encouraging their killing and destruction. Against a State who’s leaders are openly calling for “a second Nakba” shielded by international impunity. (SA v Israel, 63)

God of Sumud, we the children of this land have been facing erasure for more than 76 years. The experience of oppression and death continues from our ancestors to our children and now more than ever we ask: for how long O Lord? Help us understand that every life destroyed from settler colonialism is itself a Nakba. We thank you for the Holy Spirit which manifests in the form of Sumud helping us to keep our humanity, our identity, our fight for justice, and our faith. (Sabeel Wave of Prayer)

[Gazans] are severely wounded. with, with life-altering disabling injuries, bereaved of their entire families, homeless, alone, trapped, without electricity or even basic healthcare. Seven months later, after two Orders from this Court, they are still there, enduring this horror. They are crying out for help. An order for an immediate cessation of Israel’s military operations in Gaza is now their only hope. “Enough is enough.” (SA v Israel 62)

Last week, the Israeli forces demolished 47 homes in al-Naqab (Negev Desert, Southern Occupied Palestine), sending those families into permanent exile and with no promise of alternative housing. The homes demolished belonged to the Abu Asa family. This is one of the largest demolitions in years for the Palestinians in al-Naqab.

God of protection, in times of trouble we look to you as our shelter through the storm. Lord, restore the homes of the Abu Asa family and all Palestinians who have had their homes demolished. As we pray to you in lament may we remember that “the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’” (Psalm 91:2)

Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer

(Sabeel Wave of Prayer)

What I’m reading/Listening to this week: