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Israel forces aid organizations to purchase food from Egypt and prevents them from buying it in Israel, which would allow for a more efficient and rapid transfer of goods. Israel also prohibits the private sector in Gaza from purchasing food, which could significantly increase supply. Although Israel recently allowed trucks in through Kerem Shalom Crossing, too, which is designed for commercial transports, this was merely a token addition that has failed to alleviate the hardship.

Aid organizations are struggling to operate under current conditions, and most of the limited aid allowed in remains in Rafah instead of reaching residents throughout the Strip. Martin Griffiths, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, listed several reasons why aid cannot be efficiently distributed. Among other things, he noted that trucks are inspected several times before Israel allows them into Gaza, and even then, long lines form due to the conditions at Rafah Crossing. The little food that does get in is very difficult to distribute due to the constant bombings, destroyed roads, frequent communication blackouts, and shelters overflowing with of hundreds of thousands of IDPs crowding into smaller and smaller areas.

Israel can, if it so chooses, change this reality. The images of children begging for food, people waiting in long lines for paltry handouts and hungry residents charging at aid trucks are already inconceivable. The horror is growing by the minute, and the danger of famine is real. Still, Israel persists in its policy.

Changing this policy is not just a moral obligation. Allowing food into the Gaza Strip is not an act of kindness but a positive obligation under international humanitarian law: starvation as a method of warfare is prohibited

  • McDropout@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2641·
    1 year ago

    For my American friendly on Lemmy; both Joe Biden and Donald Trump support this.

    But they will try to convince me how Joe Biden is a better candidate. They’re both terrible.

      • McDropout@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1417·
        1 year ago

        The downvotes whenever I mention this are not very telling.

        Many individuals tend to cling to a state of denial when confronted with the notion that participating in an electoral system limited to choosing between two political parties does not authentically embody the principles of a genuine democracy.

        But I digress.

        • harmsy@lemmy.worldEnglish
          113·
          1 year ago

          Well if someone actually good ran for President I’d vote for them. Until then, I’ll have to make do and vote for the person who isn’t actively trying to make the US as nightmarish as possible.

          • Maalus@lemmy.worldEnglish
            43·
            1 year ago

            There are third party candidates that are “actually good”. Also, you are voting for genocide if you choose either of the two main candidates.

            • harmsy@lemmy.worldEnglish
              4·
              1 year ago

              Guess I forgot to include that they also have to have a nonzero chance of getting elected.

              • Maalus@lemmy.worldEnglish
                1·
                1 year ago

                So instead of voting for candidates that agree with your worldview, you’d rather vote for the two “available” ones, both of which support genocide

                • harmsy@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  11·
                  1 year ago

                  I have to make do with the cards I’ve been dealt, unfortunately. Part of me wants to flip the table, but that is only going to make things worse.

          • Wrench@lemmy.worldEnglish
            187·
            1 year ago

            And that’s not going to happen without a super majority.

            Literally, your only chance to get the change you’re looking for is to vote Democrat across the board, get them a super majority, and hope (against odds) that they choose to pursue election reform.

            The popular opinion on lemmy of not participating in the 2 party system is just shouting into the wind while simultaneously enabling the extreme right.

            Grow the fuck up.

              • Wrench@lemmy.worldEnglish
                56·
                1 year ago

                So besides kicking and screaming, what is your actual mechanism of achieving change? What does not voting or adding to the <5% of independent voters achieve?

                Or will you continue to winge about how the democrats aren’t doing anything despite not actually having enough votes to do any of the things you’re demanding.

                Edit - thought so. Not a single idea offered. You all sound exactly like the Occupy Wallstreet crowd that kicked and screamed as loudly as they could, but couldn’t offer a single plausible solution to fix the problem.

                You want to complain that the status quo sucks without a plan on how to fix it.

                Again, grow the fuck up.

                The fascists need to be squashed. If we can give the Dems a super majority, they will have the tools to actually do something about it. Then they can break up into whatever new factions like progressives and moderates or whatever since it would be basically be inevitable after the fascists are pacified, and ranked choice voting would certainly be in the discussion.

                Or you can continue to scream into the wind and accomplish nothing.

                • mathemachristian[he]@lemm.eeEnglish
                  55·
                  1 year ago

                  The idea is that the dems won’t ever change anything if people vote blue no matter who. You want to make politicians work for your vote not hold you hostage in a “are you voting for a single genocide or double genocide” scenario. If you keep voting blue no matter who the slide into fascism will be just as sure only dragged out longer.

                  He actual solution is communist revolution obviously, but that’s a whole other topic.

                  • Maggoty@lemmy.worldEnglish
                    4·
                    1 year ago

                    Dear God no. I’ve seen one civil war up close in my lifetime and that country is still fucked decades later. You don’t go that route if you don’t absolutely have to. And it’s very possible to get into the Democratic primaries to move the party left. Well unless you just throw your hands up and walk away.

                  • SynthaEnglish
                    3·
                    1 year ago

                    How is your revolution coming along? How many weapons have you stockpiled, how many people trained, how many judges, politicians and other civil servants have you recruited? Or does your plan consist of shitposting on Lemmy until CoMmuNiSM manifests out of thin air?

                  • Wrench@lemmy.worldEnglish
                    33·
                    1 year ago

                    I do have one question, though. If you think blue are just fascists too, what makes you think, despite pretty much every communist government ever in history, that your new communist utopia won’t also fall into your clearly very broad definition of fascism?

            • JimboDHimbo@lemmy.caEnglish
              53·
              1 year ago

              But what if I just want to watch the American Empire crumble and burn, Wrench?

      • Aceticon@lemmy.worldEnglish
        85·
        1 year ago

        And yet all it would take for Trump to not be elected is for one man, one single man, to change the way he acts.

        Yet, instead of that easy, logical option of Biden behaving differently, the millions of Americans who feel revolted with this Genocide and the US Administration’s giving material support to the genociders, are supposed to ignore their Principles and vote for the guy who is activelly giving heavy bombs to be used in committing mass murder.

        Joe Biden is not willing to stop supporting Genocide even against the Principles of millions of people who voted for him and who he is supposed to represent, not even to make sure he gets their votes again so that Trump doesn’t get elected.

        Think about it. Think about what kind of person puts his desire to support those committing Genocide even against not merelly the wishes but even the Morals and Principles of those who elected him and even when by doing so he created a situation where there is a serious risk that Trump gets elected again.

        • Sagifurius@lemm.eeEnglish
          39·
          1 year ago

          Yeah, so trump didn’t support or cause a genocide when he literally had the ability. His track record for violence is strikingly less than the average presidents. Biden has been vice president and president for some straight up heinous shit, intentionally destabilizing entire countries.

          • Maggoty@lemmy.worldEnglish
            6·
            1 year ago

            Dude literally attempted to start a war with Iran. And the only reason he didn’t use the military against protestors is because the military refused the order. So instead he created a special unit in the Department of Justice made up of volunteers. They covered themselves by saying they were defending federal property but instead they were filmed abducting people in the vicinity of protests and damaging cars they believe belonged to protestors. They routinely fired “less than lethal” projectiles into crowds that were just standing around. Often they aimed to maim people with those projectiles, instead of aiming them low as intended.

            Trump also fomented our first armed insurrection in 160 years. And then he tried to stop the military from responding to it.

            He clearly wanted to do all the stupid stuff. He just sucked at it and had a lot of patriots doing every thing they could to slow him down or stop him. Round 2 would be very different. For example the hold on military promotions Tuberville was running? That fits perfectly with the playbook for subverting the military. You make the job bad enough that competent people leave and your buddies stay because they understand the mission. Repeat that cycle a few times and you can begin a silent purge of NCOs and lower officers that aren’t seen as loyal to the cause.

            If someone failed to coup your government you don’t give them a second chance.

            • Sagifurius@lemm.eeEnglish
              17·
              1 year ago

              And they say the “right” is into conspiracy theories. “He’s a fucking moron, but look at all this shit that mastermind nearly pulled off”

              • Maggoty@lemmy.worldEnglish
                41·
                1 year ago

                Obviously he didn’t nearly pull it off. He did very much attempt to pull it off and now it’s a group project.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.worldEnglish
      9·
      1 year ago

      They are, but one of them is committed to letting us at least have an appearance of choice. The other is making jokes about being a dictator and arguing in court that he could murder his political rivals and it would be legal.

      So they’re both horrible people. But one of them is a magnitude worse.