{"id":44498,"date":"2023-10-27T12:52:12","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T20:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/?p=44498"},"modified":"2023-10-27T12:52:12","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T20:52:12","slug":"biden-accused-of-genocide-denial-after-casting-doubt-on-civilian-death-toll-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/27\/biden-accused-of-genocide-denial-after-casting-doubt-on-civilian-death-toll-in-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden Accused of &#8216;Genocide Denial&#8217; After Casting Doubt on Civilian Death Toll in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The largest Muslim American civil rights group on Wednesday led condemnation of U.S. President Joe Biden for saying he had &#8220;no confidence&#8221; in Palestinian health officials&#8217; Gaza casualty reports \u2013 figures deemed reliable by United Nations agencies, human rights groups, international and Israeli mainstream media, and even <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/415610_WEST-BANK-AND-GAZA-2022-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the U.S. State Department<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking at a Wednesday afternoon White House press conference, Biden \u2013 who earlier this month <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2023\/10\/07\/statement-from-president-joe-biden-condemning-terrorist-attacks-in-israel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">declared<\/a> his &#8220;rock-solid and unwavering&#8221; commitment to Israel following a Hamas-led attack that killed more than 1,400 Israelis \u2013 said that &#8220;I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sure innocents have been killed, and it&#8217;s the price of waging a war,&#8221; the president continued. &#8220;But I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Responding to Biden&#8217;s remarks, Palestinian American poet, author, and activist Remi Kanazi <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Remroum\/status\/1717343856390296033\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a>: &#8220;Genocide denial has a long sordid history. Israel and Joe Biden know exactly what they are doing when they play down the death toll in Gaza.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;At least 2,000 children have been killed in <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Gaza?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Gaza<\/a> over the past 17 days,&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SavetheChildren?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SavetheChildren<\/a> stated on 23\/10. At least 360 more have been murdered since. But this is the response:<\/p>\n<p>&quot;I&#39;ve no confidence in the number [of dead] the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Palestinians?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Palestinians<\/a> are using.&quot; <\/p>\n<p>Joseph Robinette Biden\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IqbJdej3R0\">https:\/\/t.co\/IqbJdej3R0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Moazzam Begg (@Moazzam_Begg) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Moazzam_Begg\/status\/1717479844135469289?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 26, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) demanded Biden apologize for his &#8220;shocking and dehumanizing&#8221; comments.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Israeli government has openly admitted that it is targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure,&#8221; CAIR executive director Nihad Awad said in a statement. &#8220;Journalists have confirmed the high number of casualties, and countless videos coming out of Gaza every day show mangled bodies of Palestinian women, and children \u2013 and entire city blocks leveled to the ground.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;President Biden should watch some of these videos and ask himself if the crushed children being dragged out of the ruins of their family homes are a fabrication or an acceptable price of war,&#8221; said Awad. &#8220;They are neither. Biden should apologize for his comments, condemn the Israeli government for deliberately targeting civilians, and demand a cease-fire before more innocent people die.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;Journalists have confirmed the high number of casualties, and countless videos coming out of Gaza every day show mangled bodies of Palestinian women and children,&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CAIRNational?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CAIRNational<\/a> ED <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NihadAwad?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NihadAwad<\/a> said in a statement. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Gaza_Genocide?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Gaza_Genocide<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/GenocideJoe?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#GenocideJoe<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Gaza?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Gaza<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PCS3RG10m9\">https:\/\/t.co\/PCS3RG10m9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ibrahim Hooper (@ibrahimhooper) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ibrahimhooper\/status\/1717536166797287433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 26, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>After former U.S. Congressman Justin Amash (R-Mich.), who is Palestinian American, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mlive.com\/news\/grand-rapids\/2023\/10\/former-rep-justin-amash-says-relatives-killed-in-gaza-airstrike.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a> that &#8220;several&#8221; of his relatives including an infant cousin were among at least 18 people killed in last week&#8217;s Israeli airstrike on the Saint Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church, journalist Briahna Joy Gray <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/briebriejoy\/status\/1717271406151438566\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">asked<\/a> Wednesday if Biden thinks he&#8217;s lying.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I wonder if Biden thinks former US congressman Justin Amash is lying about his three dead Palestinian relatives. Is the UN lying about 30 dead international school students? Is the video of the Al Jazeera\u2019s Arabic bureau head grieving over his dead wife fake? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YqG8FBARsW\">https:\/\/t.co\/YqG8FBARsW<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/briebriejoy\/status\/1717271406151438566?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 25, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>While it is nearly impossible to immediately verify Gaza casualties because Israel <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/reliefweb.int\/report\/occupied-palestinian-territory\/israel-and-palestine-ifj-calls-unesco-protect-journalists\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">does not allow <\/a>foreign journalists into the besieged strip, many experts say figures provided by Palestinian health officials \u2013 including branches of the Palestinian Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank \u2013 are accurate. They say not only do U.N. agencies, international media, and <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/breaking-news\/article-769490\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Israeli news outlets<\/a> rely upon them, but that the Israeli government and military have rarely if ever challenged the figures following the numerous wars Israel has waged against Gaza in recent decades.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Everyone uses the figures from the Gaza Health Ministry because those are generally proven to be reliable,&#8221; Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/2023\/10\/24\/gaza-death-toll-palestinian-health-ministry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told<\/a><em>The Washington Post<\/em> on Tuesday. &#8220;In the times in which we have done our own verification of numbers for particular strikes, I&#8217;m not aware of any time which there&#8217;s been some major discrepancy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">President Biden says he has &quot;no confidence in the number [of deaths] that the Palestinians are using.\u201d Here&#39;s what <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OmarSShakir?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@OmarSShakir<\/a> of Human Rights Watch has to say about the numbers used by the Gaza Health Ministry. In short: he&#39;s sure they&#39;re accurate. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lfzfJDNMlD\">https:\/\/t.co\/lfzfJDNMlD<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TPWkyzRqTP\">pic.twitter.com\/TPWkyzRqTP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Alex Kane (@alexbkane) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/alexbkane\/status\/1717252447729520693?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 25, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, when reality is too difficult to stomach, Israel and so many of its allies prefer to deny it or bury their head in the sand,&#8221; Shakir <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2023\/oct\/26\/can-we-trust-casualty-figures-from-the-hamas-run-gaza-health-ministry\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> in a separate interview with <em>The Guardian<\/em>. &#8220;As long as they can create a fog of war and misinformation about what&#8217;s taking place, it provides cover for this to continue. To continue to have 100-plus Palestinian children killed every day.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mohammed El-Kurd, <em>The Nation<\/em>&#8216;s Palestine correspondent, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/m7mdkurd\/status\/1717298559194747271\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote<\/a> that Biden&#8217;s denial &#8220;isn&#8217;t just racism. He&#8217;s preemptively minimizing the scale of death the Israeli regime has planned for Gaza.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Calls to &#8220;flatten Gaza&#8221; began immediately \u2013 in both Israel <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/lindsey-graham\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">and the United States<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 after Hamas&#8217; horrific mass murder and abduction of Israeli and foreign citizens on October 7.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">[1] These days in Israel, in response to Hamas\u2019 brutal massacre, calls to ethnically cleanse Gaza, deliberately targeting civilians on a mass scale, and other dehumanizing language, have  become common.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few examples of this discourse over the last few days.<\/p>\n<p>THREAD<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Yehuda Shaul (@YehudaShaul) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/YehudaShaul\/status\/1714301957052019156?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 17, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2023\/10\/7\/world-is-watching-fears-grow-of-a-massive-gaza-invasion-by-israel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">vowed<\/a> a &#8220;mighty vengeance&#8221; for the attacks, while far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2023\/10\/09\/israel-hamas-war-crimes-palestinians\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">declared<\/a> that it is &#8220;time to be cruel.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Tally Gotliv, a member of parliament from Netanyahu&#8217;s Likud party, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/israeli-official-calls-doomsday-nuclear-missile-option-1833585\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">posted<\/a> on social media: &#8220;It&#8217;s time to kiss doomsday. Shooting powerful missiles without limit. Not flattening a neighborhood. Crushing and flattening Gaza&#8230; Without mercy! Without mercy!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Dehumanization of Palestinians flourished, with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/liveblog_entry\/defense-minister-announces-complete-siege-of-gaza-no-power-food-or-fuel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">calling<\/a> Gazans &#8220;human animals&#8221; and Israeli President Isaac Herzog <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/thewire.in\/world\/northern-gaza-israel-palestine-conflict\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">asserting<\/a> that there are &#8220;no innocent civilians in Gaza.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, some Israelis \u2013 especially young people \u2013 took to TikTok and other social media to post <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarioNawfal\/status\/1717450999382839299\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">racist videos<\/a> mocking Palestinians and gaslighting victims of Israel&#8217;s attacks on Gaza by claiming grieving mothers were lying about their children being killed.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">As bombs rain on Palestinians in Gaza, Israelis like Eve Cohen have taken to TikTok in Arab face to claim Palestinian mothers are faking their deaths. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/DIYICk9Y3o\">pic.twitter.com\/DIYICk9Y3o<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Rafael Shimunov \u2721\ufe0f \ud83c\udf49 (@rafaelshimunov) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rafaelshimunov\/status\/1716049297836331209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 22, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Perhaps most ominously of all, Ariel Kallner, another Likud lawmaker, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2023\/10\/09\/israel-hamas-war-crimes-palestinians\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">called for <\/a>a &#8220;Nakba that will overshadow the Nakba of &#8217;48,&#8221; a reference to the forced expulsion and <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zochrot.org\/articles\/view\/56529\/en?AlNakba\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ethnic cleansing<\/a> of over 750,000 Arabs from Palestine during the founding of the modern state of Israel in 1947-49.<\/p>\n<p>In a likely war crime \u2013 one of many, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/israeli-war-crimes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to<\/a> Amnesty International \u2013 compared with Nakba massacres like <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2023\/4\/9\/the-deir-yassin-massacre-why-it-still-matters-75-years-later\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Deir Yassin<\/a> and the <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.counterpunch.org\/2018\/07\/16\/the-lydda-death-march-and-the-israeli-state-of-denial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lydda Death March<\/a>, Israeli officials ordered 1.1 million residents of northern Gaza to flee for their lives ahead of an expected ground invasion and possible territorial conquest. Israeli forces then attacked the fleeing Gazans anyway. Around 70 people, mostly women and children, were <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/gaza-convoy-attack\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">killed<\/a> in an October 13 strike on a fleeing convoy.<\/p>\n<p>Nowhere is safe. <em>Al Jazeera<\/em> Gaza bureau chief Wael Al-Dahdouh <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/al-jazeera-reporter-family\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lost<\/a> his wife, son, daughter, and 18-month-old grandson in an October 25 Israeli airstrike on a shelter in an area meant to be out of harm&#8217;s way. They were killed after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken \u2013 who has also cast doubt on the Gaza death toll \u2013 <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2023\/10\/25\/tony-blinken-qatar-israel-hamas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reportedly<\/a> asked the Qatari government, which funds <em>Al Jazeera<\/em>, to &#8220;tone down&#8221; its coverage of Israel&#8217;s Gaza slaughter.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Israel kills Al-Jazeera correspondent\u2019s family days after Blinken demands the channel\u2019s coverage be \u2018toned down\u2019   <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ViWvdfU6Ys\">https:\/\/t.co\/ViWvdfU6Ys<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mohammed El-Kurd (@m7mdkurd) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/m7mdkurd\/status\/1717349416456032591?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 26, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>As of Thursday, Israel&#8217;s relentless bombardment of Gaza has killed at least 6,850 people, including nearly 3,000 children,<a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mohps\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> according to<\/a> Palestinian health officials in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza. More than 17,000 others have been wounded, nearly half the homes in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, and over 1.4 million people have been displaced.<\/p>\n<p>Hundreds of international legal scholars, and one of Israel&#8217;s leading Holocaust scholars, have <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/legal-scholars-israel-genocide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">accused<\/a> Israel of committing &#8220;genocide&#8221; in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>In the illegally occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers and settlers have <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/live-news\/20231025-more-than-100-palestinians-killed-in-west-bank-amid-gaza-war\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">killed<\/a> more than 100 Palestinians and wounded nearly 2,000 others since October 7.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Israeli historian and genocide scholar Raz Segal says Israeli leaders&#39; dehumanizing language about Palestinians in Gaza and the IDF&#39;s conduct are cause for alarm. &quot;We&#39;re seeing the combination of genocidal acts with special intent. This is indeed a textbook case of genocide.&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/y9PaaViaHn\">pic.twitter.com\/y9PaaViaHn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Democracy Now! (@democracynow) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/democracynow\/status\/1713900853818523840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 16, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Scores of journalists and health workers have also been <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/gaza-civilian-casualties\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">killed<\/a> by Israeli strikes on Gaza. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said earlier this week that 35 of its humanitarian workers \u2013 many of them teachers \u2013 died in Israeli attacks.<\/p>\n<p>Some observers noted Israel&#8217;s long history of denying atrocities or <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/views\/2018\/05\/18\/blaming-victims-israels-gaza-massacre\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">blaming victims<\/a> for their own deaths. Recent examples include <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/world\/israel-carried-out-gaza-strike-that-killed-5-children-report-says\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lying<\/a> about killing civilians, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/israel-white-phosphorus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">using<\/a> banned white phosphorus weapons in urban areas, and the <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/israel-white-phosphorus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">deliberate killing<\/a> of Palestinian American <em>Al Jazeera<\/em> reporter<a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2022\/09\/21\/probe-shows-israeli-killing-journalist-deliberate-family-turns-icc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Shireen Abu Akleh<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli leaders have also <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/israel-un-visas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">targeted<\/a> prominent international figures who, like U.N. Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, dare point out that Hamas terrorism &#8220;did not happen in a vacuum&#8221; and were the result of generations of illegal occupation, settler colonization, economic strangulation, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Keep coming back to Shireen Abu Akleh, American journalist, shot &amp; killed by IDF, which Israel then lied about,<\/p>\n<p>&amp; then the recent unraveling of Israel\u2019s narrative abt bombing of Al-Ahli hospital,<\/p>\n<p>But mass deaths in Gaza, which we can see w our own eyes, are not to be believed <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YufDkn2O7G\">https:\/\/t.co\/YufDkn2O7G<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/letsgomathias\/status\/1717252448442519742?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 25, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Regardless of how many noncombatants Israel has blown to smithereens, for Netanyahu to deny them water is a war crime,&#8221; U.S. Middle East expert and <em>Informed Comment<\/em> publisher Juan Cole <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.juancole.com\/2023\/10\/genocide-palestinians-disappear.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">noted<\/a> Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The ongoing genocide against the civilian population of Gaza, perpetrated by the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, is an embarrassment for the United States,&#8221; he added, &#8220;which fully supports this reckless disregard for the lives of innocent noncombatants \u2013 men, women, and children.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><i>Brett Wilkins is is staff writer for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/\">Common Dreams<\/a>. Based in San Francisco, his work covers issues of social justice, human rights and war and peace. This originally appeared at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/\">CommonDreams<\/a>\u00a0and is reprinted with the author\u2019s permission.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The largest Muslim American civil rights group on Wednesday led condemnation of U.S. President Joe Biden for saying he had &#8220;no confidence&#8221; in Palestinian health officials&#8217; Gaza casualty reports \u2013 figures deemed reliable by United Nations agencies, human rights groups, international and Israeli mainstream media, and even the U.S. State Department. Speaking at a Wednesday [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":372,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-44498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"meta_box":{"disable_donate_message":"","custom_donate_message":"","subtitle":"Palestinian officials, U.N. experts, and even Israeli media say nearly 7,000 men, women, and children have been killed by Israel's indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling."},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/372"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44498"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44502,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44498\/revisions\/44502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44498"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=44498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}