On Wednesday, July 24, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court, will address a joint session of Congress. The invitation is yet another demonstration of the US government’s unlimited solidarity with the Israeli state.
Netanyahu will be speaking in Washington not only as the leader of the fascistic cabal that rules Israel but as the political agent of US imperialism in the Middle East. He will stand before and receive the applause of Congress as the leader of a government that is engaged in mass murder and the systematic destruction of Gazan society. The number of Palestinian deaths during the last nine months, according to the Gazan Health Ministry, had reached 37,396 people as of June 19.
Netanyahu will be speaking in Washington not only as the leader of the fascistic cabal that rules Israel but as the political agent of US imperialism in the Middle East. He will stand before and receive the applause of Congress as the leader of a government that is engaged in mass murder and the systematic destruction of Gazan society. The number of Palestinian deaths during the last nine months, according to the Gazan Health Ministry, had reached 37,396 people as of June 19.
However, a more intensive analysis of the scale of destruction, published on July 5 by The Lancet, among the most respected peer-reviewed medical journals in the world, states that the official figure is a vast underestimate of the actual number of Palestinians killed since October. In addition to the identified victims, The Lancet notes the United Nations’ report that 35 percent of all buildings in Gaza had been destroyed by late February, and that it has been reliably estimated that more than 10,000 people are buried in the rubble.
But even adding these 10,000 victims to the official death count results in a number that is still far below the actual number of people killed. The Lancet states that indirect deaths caused by the total destruction of Gaza’s social infrastructure are a substantial multiple of direct deaths caused by artillery shells and bombs. The Lancet writes:
But even adding these 10,000 victims to the official death count results in a number that is still far below the actual number of people killed. The Lancet states that indirect deaths caused by the total destruction of Gaza’s social infrastructure are a substantial multiple of direct deaths caused by artillery shells and bombs. The Lancet writes:
In recent conflicts, such indirect deaths range from three to 15 times the number of direct deaths. Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death to the 37,396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza. Using the 2022 Gaza Strip population estimate of 2,375,259, this would translate to 7.9% of the total population in the Gaza Strip.
The population of the United States is approximately 333 million people. If 7.9 percent of Americans were killed in a war, the death toll would be 26.3 million people.
The invitation to Netanyahu is a political provocation that exposes the complicity of the US government in the genocidal war against the people of Gaza.
How is this provocation to be answered?
The World Socialist Web Site, the Socialist Equality Party, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality and the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees have called a demonstration in Washington, D.C. to denounce both Netanyahu’s visit and his political accomplices and enablers in the US government. This demonstration will give voice to the mass opposition within this country and throughout the world to the criminal alliance between US imperialism and its agents in the Israeli state.
How is this provocation to be answered?
The World Socialist Web Site, the Socialist Equality Party, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality and the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees have called a demonstration in Washington, D.C. to denounce both Netanyahu’s visit and his political accomplices and enablers in the US government. This demonstration will give voice to the mass opposition within this country and throughout the world to the criminal alliance between US imperialism and its agents in the Israeli state.
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