Chain reaction

October was the cruellest month, and November may get nastier. I receive an email from a relative that simply says, "Gaza is unbearable." 

- Charlotte Grimshaw

Late into the night, we watch the news reports. After the appalling Hamas terrorist attacks, the Israeli retaliation is shocking the world with its savagery. The citizens of Gaza are locked in, with little food, water, medical supplies or fuel. Hospitals are becoming mass graves. Doctors are operating on wounds and performing emergency caesarean sections without anaesthetic.

The US vetoes a resolution calling for a humanitarian pauses, and US news broadcasts bluster about American leadership. "Oh yes," a relative says sarcastically. "American leadership; I'm sure we're completely safe." We recall the US reaction after 9/11. Instead of treating those attacks as an enormous crime requiring a law enforcement response, the US went to war. The consequences for the world were disastrous.