Last week, Thursday, August 6, was the 81st anniversary of the United States detonating an atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima, the first and only use (so far) of a nuclear weapon in war. It immediately killed 60,000-80,000 on the first day. By the end of 1945, an additional 140,000 had died, and in the decades that followed, many more died from cancer and other radiation-related illnesses. Sunday, August 9, the US detonated an atomic bomb over the city of Nagasaki, resulting in another 74,000 deaths by the end of 1945.
Today, Tuesday, August 11, first-responders and others in Colombia continue their efforts to find and rescue survivors trapped under the rubble of damaged and destroyed buildings after yesterday’s 7.4 magnitude earthquake. As of today, the death toll is approaching 200, close to 2700 people injured, over 3000 missing, and around 1600 buildings destroyed.
Peace groups, religious groups, justice organizations around the world held vigils remembering the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And the UN is redirecting human aid to Colombia, international relief agencies are standing by, emergency coordination centers are being set up, and nations around the world are offering their support. Rightly so. Rightly so.
We mourn with the families and loved ones of the dead, we pray for healing for the injured, we pause and reflect on the preciousness of life, the powers of nature that humble us, especially on the violence we inflict upon each other, and I wonder if there is any hope for us as a species.
But … a reminder:
Since October 7, 2023, the number of Palestinians killed by Israel’s Zionist genocide in Gaza is now more than 75,000, with the number of recorded injured exceeding 175,000 – that’s ten percent of Gaza’s population either murdered or injured. All with its criminal, genocidal partner, the United States. And according to the United Nations, many injuries are unreported due to limited resources. For this reason, the UN and many other humanitarian organizations believe that the above statistics (provided by the Gaza Health Ministry) are undercounted. Most reputable sources suggest the total number of deaths exceeds 100,000.
And now, Trump’s ill- and ironically- and cynically named “Board of Peace” demands that Hamas disarm, giving up any right of self-defense against the genocidal, ethnic cleansing agenda of the racist Zionist regime. And – words fail as one tries to wrap one’s mind around the sheer evil – now Israeli Zionist contractors are conducting a widespread clearing of the rubble they have maliciously destroyed – homes, hospitals, schools, cultural centers, houses of worship, and more – many of which still have the remains of Gazans under them in order to erase – that’s the word, erase – the memory of its racist, genocide upon the Palestinian people.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor estimates that “at least 10 million tonnes of rubble have been removed, crushed, or moved from their original sites within the areas under Israel’s unlawful military control, which encompass about 66 per cent of the Gaza Strip.”
And where is the international outrage? Some will remind me there’s a country here, a celebrity there, a human rights organization over here speaking out, a church over there passing a resolution. Good for them! Truly! But where is the organized, concerted global outrage and resistance that has the teeth to say, “Enough!” and to force the Israeli and US bastards to cease their murderous rampage?
Our attention spans are as tiny as our consciences. On to the next celebrity wedding or sports event. On to the next tragedy and faux DC indignation– all first world annoyances of the privileged classes to take our minds off of what really matters.
All the while now, for the last 78+ years, our friends in Palestine have been dehumanized, dispossessed, and displaced; and now, as Israel conducts its own final solution on Palestinians, we remain silent.
Shame on us picking and choosing our outrage and our aid. And the band plays on.