(If you are having difficulty with video playback, you can find backup video on my Youtube channel, HERE)
As 2023 draws to a close, I find myself compelled to address the most pivotal story for this year and perhaps for our entire lives. We are currently witnessing a military assault of unprecedented brutality in modern history, a conflict that has shattered lives and communities with a ferocity that defies comprehension.
The indiscriminate destruction we've seen in Gaza– the loss of children, journalists, artists, and everyday people – marks a disturbing departure from the established rules of war and humanitarian norms. In my endeavor to bring this story to light, I have sifted through countless hours of video footage, news clips, personal testimonies, and firsthand accounts. My aim has been to craft a narrative that lays bare the unrelenting cruelty of this conflict, a madness that ultimately serves nothing but the darkest aspects of humanity.
In presenting this video, I have consciously refrained from including the most graphic images, yet I must advise viewer discretion. The footage you are about to see is essential for understanding the true nature of this ruthless war.
This conflict is notable not just for its scale but for its targeted attacks on journalists – a grim record in both the number and speed of such assaults. These courageous individuals, professional and citizen journalists alike, play a crucial role in bringing these stories to light, ensuring that the atrocities committed are not lost to history and that those responsible are held accountable.
Via Chris Hedges Report; The Cost of Bearing Witness:
Writing and photographing in wartime are acts of resistance, acts of faith. They affirm the belief that one day - a day the writers, journalists and photographers may never see - the words and images will evoke empathy, understanding, outrage and provide wisdom. They chronicle not only the facts, although facts are important, but the texture, sacredness and grief of lives and communities lost. They tell the world what war is like, how those caught in its maw of death endure, how there are those who sacrifice for others and those who do not, what fear and hunger are like, what death is like. They transmit the cries of children, the wails of grief of the mothers, the daily struggle in the face of savage industrial violence, the triumph of their humanity through filth, sickness, humiliation and fear. This is why writers, photographers and journalists are targeted by aggressors in war — including the Israelis — for obliteration. They stand as witnesses to evil, an evil the aggressors want buried and forgotten. They expose the lies. They condemn, even from the grave, their killers. Israel has killed at least 13 Palestinian poets and writers along with at least 67 journalists and media workers in Gaza, and three in Lebanon since Oct. 7.
I experienced futility and outrage when I covered war. I wondered if I had done enough, or if it was even worth the risk. But you go on because to do nothing is to be complicit. You report because you care. You will make it hard for the killers to deny their crimes.
As U.S. taxpayers, it's vital to recognize our role in this conflict. Our indirect contributions through U.S. taxation tie us to the events unfolding thousands of miles away. The repercussions of this war will be felt globally, affecting not only the Palestinians but Americans, Israelis, and Jewish communities worldwide. We risk alienating ourselves from the rest of the world, which strives for peace and civility.
This comprehensive video is a compilation of political, ideological, historical, and personal perspectives pieced together to offer a detailed understanding of the current situation. As we watch, let us reflect on our role in these events and the legacy we create for future generations.
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Gaza 2023