A sweet and sour Thanksgiving
This Thanksgiving was a sad one for me. I realised that I was only going through the motions. I joined my family for the usual sumptuous dinner: roasted turkey, baked pie, and mashed potatoes, among others. But my heart was not really in it, as if I was acting only out of respect for the children and for tradition's sake. My mind was elsewhere as I went through the rounds of feasts, parades, and football games that are part of the Thanksgiving ritual I have gotten used to over the last four decades.
Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. You gather with family and loved ones around tables overflowing with food and drink to offer thanks to your family, your community, your homeland, and others who have played a role in your life—often in a dining room lit with candles and decorated in the season's colours of red, gold, orange, and brown.
The reason behind my sadness this year was that, at every step I took and with every breath I inhaled, I could not help but be aware of the hellish conditions in another part of the world: Gaza. I remembered my fellow human beings who are living in Gaza and have been bearing the brunt of the Israeli war machine, the IDF, supported by the brutal might of Western powers. I have seen horrific photographs, heard heart-rending accounts of IDF's brutality, and read stories from the war zone that have moved me immensely. The death and destruction, the casualties from the indiscriminate bombardment of civilian targets, including hospitals, and the indescribable sufferings of innocent and helpless women and children are constantly on my mind.
I only watch a little TV, but regularly read the newspapers and check the messages on my phone. The images from Gaza City and the Rafah Border Crossing are mind-boggling. The satellite images depict the scale of the devastation in Gaza following the month-and-a-half of non-stop aerial and ground attacks unleashed by the Israeli forces. Gaza City is the largest city in the State of Palestine, with more than half a million residents, and Israel has methodically pounded every single structure in order to wipe out the existence of the Palestinian people. And it is not only Israeli politicians who have vowed to push the Palestinians out of Gaza; even some US and European politicians have approved the goal to have this nation be "wiped off the face of the Earth."
The relentless Israeli airstrikes appear to have but one mission: to bring Palestinians down to their knees. Kill them, starve them, and force them to beg for surrender. The Gaza health ministry said they stopped keeping a count of the people who died after November 10, once the fighting and the destruction of the communications network made tallying from the hospitals nonviable.
The entire region of Gaza is severely short on food, water, medicine, and fuel. Fortunately, Jordan has offered to lend a helping hand and fly out a field hospital in Khan Yunis with incubators for newborns still fighting for survival.
Al-Shifa Hospital, the central medical facility on the Gaza Strip, was totally destroyed. The Indonesian government has been bold and courageous enough to express its outrage at the invading government for the criminal attack on the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza. But, reportedly, there is not a single hospital in northern Gaza in service anymore. A World Health Organization team that visited al-Shifa Hospital said that while most of the patients have left, there are a few remaining patients with amputations, burns, or other trauma, with plans being made to evacuate them in the coming days.
On Thanksgiving Eve, the National Public Radio (NPR) news programme announced that 31 premature babies in "extremely critical condition" were transferred from al-Shifa Hospital to Egypt. Earlier, these newborns had been receiving urgent care in Rafah, a city in the south. There was a shortage of incubators, and the babies had dehydration, hypothermia, and sepsis in some cases, said Mohamed Zaqout, director general of Gaza's hospitals. Four other babies died in the two days before the evacuation, he said.
The fate of the newborns at al-Shifa Hospital captured global attention after the release of images showing doctors trying to keep them warm. A power blackout had shut down incubators and other equipment, and food, water, and medical supplies ran out as Israeli forces imposed a complete blockade.
On November 23, Unicef declared Gaza as the world's most dangerous place to be a child.
I am most deeply saddened by the hypocrisy of the Western world, which is pouring in money and armaments to perpetuate the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Just before I was sitting down with my family for Thanksgiving dinner, I could see the sun setting down on the western sky, and I couldn't help thinking of the millions of others who were rushing down Salahuddin Road—the main thoroughfare through Gaza—heading south in panic; uncertain as to where they would be able to find shelter or take cover if the Israeli jets targeted them.
My wife led the prayer: "Thank you, Allah, for the food we are about to eat, for those who are here to share these blessings, for the generosity of all who make this possible. Bless those who are here and those who are in our hearts, and all those who are not as fortunate on this day. Ameen."
Dr Abdullah Shibli is an economist and works for Change Healthcare, Inc, an information technology company. He also serves as senior research fellow at the US-based International Sustainable Development Institute (ISDI).
Views expressed in this article are the author's own.
Follow The Daily Star Opinion on Facebook for the latest opinions, commentaries and analyses by experts and professionals. To contribute your article or letter to The Daily Star Opinion, see our guidelines for submission.