No, life during the coronavirus isn’t like Gaza by Nada Elia

Please TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW and send your letter to the UN Office of the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and the International Criminal Court Prosecutor.

Another key difference lies in the fact that nobody blames Seattle, or the Bay Area, for bringing the virus onto itself.  In the good-guy-bad-guy binary, COVID-19 is the bad guy, and people getting sick are the innocent good guys, who do not deserve to die. Even if they have been irresponsible, even if they have traveled, and partied, and hugged, and not washed their hands.  The population of Gaza, on the other hand, is often presented as having somewhat brought the siege upon itself. Despite Israel’s violation of international law and the human rights of Palestinian refugees, Israel is still, in the eyes of many, “the good guy” defending itself from the Palestinians.  We still hear, over and over again, that the real reason Gaza is under a siege that has been accurately described as incremental genocide is “Hamas.” As if, if it weren’t for Hamas, Israel would allow the refugees to return to their stolen homes and lands.

Continue reading at https://mondoweiss.net/2020/03/no-life-during-the-coronavirus-isnt-like-gaza/