Statement from the Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisory Council Marking One Year of Genocide in Gaza Posted October 2, 2024
October 7, 2024 marks a grim anniversary, coinciding with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, a time for reflection, apology, and atonement. We mark and grieve the deaths, trauma and abductions that were caused by the attacks of Hamas and other armed groups on October 7, 2023. Our grief and horror has been deepened by the ongoing genocide in Gaza, carried out by the Israeli military with the full backing of our own government. We speak out, as Jews and as health workers, to demand an end to this violence. We stand with our Palestinian colleagues in calling for a permanent ceasefire and for a commitment to a just resolution to these endless cycles of violence.
Over the past year, Israel has engaged in brutal, constant aerial bombardment and ground attacks in Gaza. Israel has used indiscriminate and disproportionate force as collective punishment against a civilian population. Humanitarian workers, including health workers, have been illegally detained, tortured, and targeted by Israeli bombs.
The war has intentionally destroyed almost all of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, including health care facilities, schools and universities, housing, agriculture and commerce, and electrical generation, water, and sanitation capacity. The devastation is unconscionable.
At least 41,000 Gazans have been killed. Over 95,000 people have suffered injuries, many which will impact the rest of their lives. Probably another 100,000 deaths from trauma, disease, and starvation have yet to be accounted for, the majority of them women, children, and the elderly. One hundred and one Israelis, dead and alive, remain hostage as their government refuses to negotiate their release.
We have witnessed over 2.1 million people repeatedly and forcibly displaced, living (and dying) from epidemic food insecurity and starvation, infectious disease, and relentless psychological trauma and loss. The Israeli military has consistently obstructed the entry and distribution of all types of humanitarian aid, including food and water, fuel, medicines, and medical personnel. Despite heroic efforts, maternal and infant deaths have soared. UNICEF describes Gaza as the most dangerous place in the world to be a child.
As the genocide in Gaza continues, the Israeli government has opened a second front in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Armed settlers and Israeli military have intensified their ground and air attacks, property expropriations, and demolitions of homes and infrastructure. Over 700 Palestinians have been killed and many more wounded, jailed, and deprived of human rights and legal recourse.
Massive Israeli attacks on urban and rural populations in Lebanon have killed more than 1,000 civilians and injured thousands more in the last two weeks. Half a million people have been displaced, hospitals are filled with the wounded, and shelters are over capacity as Israel extends its war further into the Middle East.
Multiple legal, human rights and humanitarian organizations have identified repeated war crimes by the Israeli military. The international community is increasingly in agreement: Israel is commiting genocide in Gaza. The United States government is complicit in these crimes and genocide by repeatedly providing weapons to Israel in violation of both US and international law.
For the past year, Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisory Council [JVP HAC] has carefully documented these unfolding realities and warned of the extreme risks of war spreading throughout the Middle East. The JVP HAC has consistently demanded a permanent ceasefire, an arms embargo, the release of hostages, and the delivery of humanitarian aid. We have participated in the international movement to resolve the root problems – Israeli occupation, siege, and denial of Palestinian rights and self-determination. As US citizens, we are complicit in this ongoing tragedy. We encourage everyone to intensify all efforts to cut off military aid to Israel, to reinstate critical US funding for UNRWA, and to compel a ceasefire – NOW!
As health workers, we have a heightened obligation to speak out against injustice and violence. The oath we take “To do no harm” precludes silence in the face of genocide. As we enter these High Holidays, we say, “Not in Our Name!” We call on all people of good conscience to speak out, to reach out to your elected leaders, to actively work to stop the funds for arms and to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire. May we mark this anniversary by transforming tragedy into healing.
