When I got my Dec. 28 issue of the Dot Reporter, I was struck by the front-page article about disparities in health outcomes and life expectancy between largely white communities and neighborhoods of color in Boston. We cannot assert with confidence that all lives are equally valued in our racially tinged city if we are not shocked by this. That’s why we say and act on the idea that “Black Lives Matter.”

Far away from Boston, Palestinians lives in Gaza do not seem to matter at all. More than 22,000 Gazans have been killed by Israeli bombing attacks, according to the Associated Press. The majority of the victims are women and children, while tens of thousands more have been wounded, often grievously.

Much of Gaza has been made uninhabitable by the Israeli bombing; hospitals, schools, universities, mosques, churches, and many cultural institutions have been targeted repeatedly. According to the UN, almost two million Gazans have been forced by the bombing to flee their homes to crowded and squalid conditions in the south of the Strip without adequate shelter – and where they have also been targeted by Israel’s military.

The conditions resulting from the Israeli assault, together with its blockade and limits on the entry of food, water, and fuel, have caused widespread hunger, with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians civilians facing outright starvation. The medical system in Gaza has virtually collapsed under the weight of Israeli attacks, so the likelihood of severe disease epidemics that could claim many more lives is increasingly dire.

All of these horrors are excruciatingly documented in the 84-page South African indictment of Israel for the crime of genocide submitted to the International Court of Justice.

This may seem far away and of little relevance to people living in Dorchester. But if Israel has been directly committing genocide and other war crimes in Gaza, it is our own US government that has been its decisive enabler. The Israeli war planes operating over Gaza, the attack helicopters, and nearly all the bombs being dropped are made in the USA. These weapons are transferred cost-free to Israel, courtesy of the US taxpayer, along with billions in annual US military aid to Israel. The White House and the leaders of both parties in Congress are now pushing for a further $14 billion in US taxpayer funds to support the Israeli war effort.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley and many others have called for a ceasefire that would stop the killing; Dorchester’s other Congressmember, Stephen Lynch, believes that Israel should continue its assault on Gaza.

Given the lack of enforcement powers by the International Court, and the US veto power in the UN, it is possible that Israel’s leaders – and our own — may escape punishment. But they will certainly face the judgement of history.

Just before Christmas, Palestinian pastor Munther Isaac preached a sermon in Bethlehem that included these words: “Leaders of the so-called “free” lined up one after the other to give the green light for this genocide against a captive population. They gave the cover. Not only did they make sure to pay the bill in advance, they also veiled the truth and context, providing political cover… I feel sorry for you. We will be OK. Despite the immense blow we have endured, we will recover. We will rise and stand up again from the midst of destruction, as we have always done as Palestinians, although this is by far the biggest blow we have received in a long time. But again, for those who are complicit, I feel sorry for you. Will you ever recover from this?”

Shouldn’t people of good will in the US join Pastor Isaac in loudly proclaiming that “Palestinian Lives Matter” too?

Jeff Klein
Dorchester