Let’s say we do get to send heavy packages of food to Renad. Let’s say one or two of actually make it to her. Would it stop the real problem? The forced starvation? I wonder why our sentences have no subject when we talk about “the hunger problem” in Gaza. Who is imposing this starvation on Gazans? Who has Gaza in a siege controlling all the food and medicine going in and out for nearly two decades? Who has stopped the aid and food trucks from getting inside Gaza making thousands die if hunger? Whose drones are circling above Gaza day and night? Whose carpet bombing Gaza destroying everything from schools to hospitals to homes that children like Renad and their families need for simply living? How can we oppose this vile crime of starvation as a weapon for genocide if we don’t acknowledge and name that this something Israel is doing to Renad and her people, as opposed to something that has just happened to befall the people of Gaza? Little or heavy packages of food don’t solve the problem of dehumanization and ethnic cleansing in Gaza. We will be back where we are now in a few short days/weeks as it has already happened. We should at least name the things as they are and who’s doing them for the slightest chance of being able to protest against them: Israel has Gaza under siege, is bombing them and is starving them. This is part of the colonial occupation project of Israel and there’s no hope in heaven for Renad and other children like her (and their adult families) as long as it’s going on. There’s no protesting for food for people of Gaza without protesting against Israeli genocide and occupation.
Let’s say we do get to send heavy packages of food to Renad. Let’s say one or two of actually make it to her. Would it stop the real problem? The forced starvation? I wonder why our sentences have no subject when we talk about “the hunger problem” in Gaza. Who is imposing this starvation on Gazans? Who has Gaza in a siege controlling all the food and medicine going in and out for nearly two decades? Who has stopped the aid and food trucks from getting inside Gaza making thousands die if hunger? Whose drones are circling above Gaza day and night? Whose carpet bombing Gaza destroying everything from schools to hospitals to homes that children like Renad and their families need for simply living? How can we oppose this vile crime of starvation as a weapon for genocide if we don’t acknowledge and name that this something Israel is doing to Renad and her people, as opposed to something that has just happened to befall the people of Gaza? Little or heavy packages of food don’t solve the problem of dehumanization and ethnic cleansing in Gaza. We will be back where we are now in a few short days/weeks as it has already happened. We should at least name the things as they are and who’s doing them for the slightest chance of being able to protest against them: Israel has Gaza under siege, is bombing them and is starving them. This is part of the colonial occupation project of Israel and there’s no hope in heaven for Renad and other children like her (and their adult families) as long as it’s going on. There’s no protesting for food for people of Gaza without protesting against Israeli genocide and occupation.
I adore Renad too. She reminds me of my niece. I check Instagram daily to see if she’s okay. When she doesn’t post, I worry.
I only found out about her from Ms Rachel, who deserves sainthood, and now I think about Renad every day too 💔