I am sitting on my veranda this morning which overlooks the city of Amman. Usually at this time, my street is busy with children walking to school, cars rushing to work and children laughing and playing in the soccer field. Today it is completely silent.
Last night we all watched the horrors unfold, as a massacre took place at the Baptist Hospital in Gaza when it was bombed and more than 800 people lost their lives. Our American media won’t show you the horrific images we can see here. Instead they prefer to whitewash the truth and shield the American people from facing what is truly happening. Right now, we have 2 wars taking place: the war on Gaza and the war of information.
Jordan has called for three days of mourning, as we sit and weep the incomprehensible loss of life that is happening. As many Palestinians here are saying, we have been mourning everyday for the last 75 years.
Now you have to watch carefully because what is unfolding is a typical play from the Israeli government “playbook.” Last night after the bombing, Hananya Naftali, Israeli Digital Spokesperson who was appointed by Netanyahu himself tweeted, “Breaking: Israeli Air Force struck a Hamas terrorist base inside a hospital in Gaza. A multiple number of terrorists are dead.” (See tweet below). A few minutes later, it was deleted. Immediately following we watched on the news as Israel blamed it on Hamas and now as of this morning, Israel has retracted that and blamed it on a small Islamic Jihad group who was throwing rockets at Israel last night.
Be aware, it is the Ministry of Health inside Gaza that reports on the deaths of civilians and that also reported the hospital bombing. Hamas and the Islamic Jihad simply do not have the capability to cause the type of destruction that took place at the Baptist Hospital last night with their rockets. This type of devastation can only occur with the military capability that Israel has, funded by the US. The Israeli government has also been warning for two days they will be targeting hospitals and that civilians should leave. If you have any experience or work in healthcare, you will know this is impossible. And if you know anything about Gaza, the world’s largest open-air prison, you will also know there is no place to evacuate hospitalized people to, and there is no road to take that is safe, as Israel also killed 70 people yesterday on the road as they were evacuating to the south.
Watch closely and listen carefully for the narrative about this hospital bombing over the days, weeks and months as this is a typical move- to make statements, retract, change, and cause chaos and confusion. The Israeli government does it often. One example of this is American Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu-Aklah who was murdered by the IDF in May of 2022. Initially, Israel blamed Palestinians, then changed the story. Months later, they finally admitted it was “likely” she was killed by the IDF, but there will be no charges against the soldier. Shireen was not in the line of fire at the time she was killed, clearly wearing her PRESS vest, and multiple investigations showed it was impossible that she was killed by anyone other than an IDF soldier. As usual, there was no justice, no one was held accountable, the international community moved on (if they ever were aware to begin with), and this situation added to the pile of injustices and human rights violations that occur every single day in Palestine. What happened to Shireen Abu Aklah at her funeral procession when the IDF attacked mourners carrying her casket, completely unprovoked, just adds to the million reasons why we are where we are today. (BTW one of those men later spoke out publicly to Al-Jazeera about what happened and four days later, he was arrested and accused of being linked to a “terrorist” group. I’m guessing American media networks never reported it.)
In an unprecedented move, King Abdullah has canceled his meeting today with President Joe Biden. This is definitely a “snub” considering the great relationship between the US and Jordan, and King Abdullah made the right decision.
Today is not the day to write me and call me a “terrorist sympathizer” or that I should have my US citizenship “revoked.” I’m angry, I’m devasted, I can’t stop crying, and today I just want to sit in silence and mourn with my Arab brothers and sisters.
This is apartheid. This is ethnic cleansing. This is genocide.
Now you know.
*Millions of Jews across the world do not stand with Israel. You can follow some of their organizations like: Jewish Voice for Peace, B’Tselem, and so many others who are speaking out against all of this.
