Dear friends--
I hope you're well?
(Scroll on down to see some exciting news about the roll-out of launch events for our book Understanding Hamas And Why That Matters, and about our PalCast podcast.)
Meantime, the situation in Gaza continues to spiral down toward-- though not yet reaching-- the extermination of the enclave's remaining 2 million people. Over the past eleven months these long-beleaguered Palestinians have been forcibly moved from place to place within the Strip multiple times. Their homes, schools, and vital infrastructure such as water, sewage, and medical systems have been systematically destroyed by Israel's military. Starvation, disease, destruction, and loss now stalk their every move.
As the UN-OCHA graphic above shows, the number of aid trucks that Israel allowed in during the first 25 days of August plunged to 69 per day. That, compared with the 500 trucks/day going in prior to October 7, and the 139 trucks/day that went in during March-- at which point Pres. Joe Biden had urgently called on Israel to increase the number significantly. (April saw a small increase, then the number plummeted again.)
And polio. Like me, you may have seen photos of aid workers shouldering large boxes containing the vaccines that, per an agreement reached on Thursday, are to be distributed and delivered to infants in three separate areas of Gaza starting tomorrow. Rolling, partial ceasefires have been agreed to allow that to happen.
But even if the large insulated boxes of vaccine get into the Strip, what then? A recent survey of healthcare workers in Gaza found that,
"71% of respondents indicated a need for training in early detection and diagnosis of polio symptoms, 66% requested training on infection prevention and control measures, 52% needed training on managing complications in pediatric polio patients... "
Read that whole short report on the fractured state of Gaza's healthcare system, and weep. Meantime, the Manchester, UK-based org Action for Humanity welcomed the "vaccination pause" in their statement yesterday. But they noted, rightly, that:
"In reality a temporary humanitarian pause, is no humanitarian pause at all. Only a permanent pause will serve the spiralling needs of the people of Gaza. And it has been shown it can be done - If this war can be stopped to stop children dying from polio, why can the war not be stopped to stop children dying from war."
...And the West Bank. PM Netanyahu and his far-right cronies in Israel's government have seen that the United States and its allies have done nothing significant to rein in the cruelty and extremism of their actions in Gaza. So now, they're extending the same approach to the occupied West Bank. In the northern West Bank, Israeli forces have laid siege to entire neighborhoods, cutting off supplies of water, food, and electricity and tearing up roads; and they've launched air-raids against some built-up areas-- all while claiming (as in Gaza) that they are merely targeting "militants."
The governments of France and the UK (among others) have condemned Israel's latest lethal actions in the West Bank.
But Washington?? Nothing.
We now seem to be in a terrifying situation in which there is no hand on the rudder of state here in Washington DC. We saw, during the late-June presidential debate, that Pres. Joe Biden seemed to be in a worrying state of cognitive decline. That was two months ago. Since then, he and VP Harris have repeatedly assured us that the U.S. government has been "working round the clock" to nail down the permanent ceasefire that is so desperately, desperately needed in Gaza. Two weeks ago, Secretary Blinken went and made yet another of his "diplomatic tours" around the region, and-- Nothing.
The people of Gaza, the West Bank, and the whole of West Asia have nearly four more months of this rudderless/ brain-dead Washington and out-of-control extremist Israeli government to live (or die) through.This is the situation that I find terrifying... unless and until the other powers in the world can step in urgently to reassert the values and requirements of international law.
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Launching our book on Hamas
![]() So now, with Just World Ed's super-timely book Understanding Hamas And Why That Matters about to start shipping from the printer, we are also starting to plan launch events for it around the United States-- and perhaps in the UK and elsewhere, as well. (Have you ordered your copy of the book yet?)
Our first launch event will be in New York City, at the event space that the book's publisher, OR Books, runs in Manhattan's Lower East Side. It will be on Wed., October 2, starting at 5:30 pm, at the Francis Kite Club, 40 Avenue C.
If you live in the NYC/Tri-state area, I hope you'll be able to join us? I think you need to RSVP, to events@orbooks.com.
This should be a fascinating evening. My JWE board colleague (and book co-author) Rami G. Khouri and I will both be there in person. We'll be sharing our main takeaways from the five conversations with experts on Hamas that form the heart of the book-- in a new conversation conducted by the veteran, Methodist church-based leader in the struggle against Apartheid, David Wildman. There will also be copies of the book available to buy!
This should be an extremely rich (and timely) event. We're making plans for livestreaming. Stay tuned!
But despite what some New Yorkers may think, there's a wide expanse of American life that exists beyond the city's borders... Just World Ed's fine board members are now working with me to arrange a series of live book events in the SF Bay Area in the second week of October, and one or more events in the DC area sometime around then , too.
If you'd like to be part of our planning for either of these regions-- or if your organization would actually like to bring Rami, or me (or both of us!) to another part of the country at some point in the months ahead-- then please let me know asap.
And by the way, if you haven't yet learned about the five world-class experts whose insights form the heart of our book, or the endorsements the has book already received from a broad range of other experts and activists, you can find all that information and more at this page on the OR website.
We've also created this graphic to help publicize this timely volume. Feel free to download it and circulate it to your friends and networks:
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Latest episode of PalCast: Anas Abu Samhan
![]() The latest episode of our PalCast podcast, recorded on August 27, was titled, "Gaza-- Paralyzed by fear." Our guest was Gaza-Palestinian writer and translator Anas Abu Samhan, with us from Doha, Qatar.
PalCast host Dr. Yousef Aljamal, co-host Tony Groves of Tortoise Shack Media, and I mainly listened as Anas shared with us several poignant glimpses into the impact of the displacement and deep loss that his family has suffered during the ongoing genocide back home. He also delved into the complex process of decolonizing both mind and language, emphasizing the critical importance of pursuing a decolonial epistemology.
We also discussed regional developments, including the continuing tensions between Hezbollah, Iran, and Israel. Such a lot to cover...
You can catch this episode at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you find your audio. And be sure to tell your friends about our whole PalCast project!
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That's it for this week's newsletter. I feel truly privileged to be able to work with amazing activist/leaders like Yousef Aljamal, Rami Khouri, and our other colleagues as we try to unscramble all the lies, untruths, confusion, and lack of knowledge that plague the Western discourse on all matters Palestinian, and bring clarity and objectivity in their stead.
Please let me know as soon as possible if you want to help us with outreach for our Understanding Hamas project over the months ahead. And especially if organizations you work with want to invite me or Rami to do an event with your people, either live or virtually.
I know that many of my newsletters contain a bit of a mish-mash of news items and analyses at different levels, from the "humanitarian" right through to geopolitics. But these things are all connected!!! There is no way to "resolve" the humanitarian crises in Palestine or anywhere else purely by increasing aid shipments. Focused, goal-oriented, evidence-based diplomatic work is also absolutely necessary. That's why we think our Understanding Hamas And Why That Matters project is so very necessary.
We are a tiny, tiny non -profit. Please, if you are able, help to keep our work going! You can click on the link below to do so. And our huge thanks go to all of you who have sent us donations throughout these latest, very busy months!
(If you want to learn a bit more about Just World Books's many fine titles, scroll on down and click on the image below the "Give" link.)
You stay well and stay sane--
~ Helena
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