Mass graves, unclaimed bodies and overcrowded cemeteries. The war robs Gaza of funeral rites

3 years ago by ickplant to c/world

Palestinians say the devastating war between Israel and Hamas is robbing them not only of their loved ones but also of the funeral rites that long have offered mourners some dignity and closure in the midst of grief.

Palestinians say this war is robbing them not only of their loved ones but also of the funeral rites that long have offered mourners some dignity and closure in the midst of unbearable grief. Israeli strikes have killed so many people so quickly that they’ve overwhelmed hospitals and morgues, making the normal rituals of death all but impossible.

Overflowing morgues have compelled hospitals to bury people before their relatives can claim them. Gravediggers have laid dozens of unidentified bodies side by side in two large backhoe-dug furrows in Gaza City now holding 63 and 46 bodies, respectively, said Mohammed Abu Selmia, the general director of Shifa Hospital.

JoMiran 45 points 3 years ago

I'm fifty, American and have always had a problem with our unconditional support of Israel, no matter how poorly they behaved. The only silver lining of this entire catastrophy is the fact that, despite all efforts to the contrary, the Gaza narrative has been mainly focused on the suffering of the Palestinian people. It's the first time that I can remember where this has been the main media focus; even mainstream outlets.

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sndmn 30 points 3 years ago
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masquenox 3 points 3 years ago

I used to think that it was only in Apartheid-South Africa that we were exposed to only the most flowery pro-Israeli propaganda while the PLO was smeared as a demonic and terrorist "other" in much the same way Hamas is being smeared right now - I thought wrong.

The fact that the National Party (of Apartheid-fame) were filled to the brim with people who believed the Nazis "did nothing wrong" really puts this bizarre right-wing and white supremacist fetishization of Israel in a proper context.

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Kben 34 points 3 years ago

This isnt a war,this is genocide.

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FunkyButter -52 points 3 years ago

The ever growing population in Gaza says otherwise.

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Gormadt 33 points 3 years ago

"Their population is still increasing, therefore our systematic relocation and killing of the population isn't genocide."

  • IDK Hitler probably
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sndmn 24 points 3 years ago

What you should have said was nothing.

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Catoblepas 20 points 3 years ago

You are saying this underneath an article about nearly 8,000 people being killed in a 3 week span in an area that is nearly 50% children.

Question whatever it was that resulted in you thinking this was a normal thing to say.

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FunkyButter -20 points 3 years ago

A single stray rocket from within Gaza killed 500 people. Israel has dropped over 10,000 bombs so far. If Israel was trying to commit genocide or intentionally hit civilians the numbers would be astronomical with regards to death toll. It is, of course, terrible that there is 7000+ dead, but a word like genocide has a specific meaning, and to use it in this context takes weight away from the word and therefore marginalizes the term being used for ACTUAL genocides.

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Catoblepas 12 points 3 years ago

Oh, well if some random schmuck on the internet says it isn’t genocide I guess we should ignore the UN human rights expert.

The literal Holocaust scholars warning of genocide probably don’t know what they’re talking about either.

Go home everyone, it’s fine for Israel to blast open as many children as they deem necessary.

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masquenox 1 point 3 years ago

A single stray rocket from within Gaza killed 500 people.

Oh, are the white supremacists still clinging to this debunked bullcrap? Do what all right-wingers do, Clyde... run for the next big lie.

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lloram239 1 point 3 years ago
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snek 0 points 3 years ago

You're not funky at all and certainly not butter.

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snek 0 points 3 years ago

Has it ever hit you that this is the number Israel has been able to get away with? How many more do they need to kill to turn the world against them? Hopefully not many. Look around, so many countries and experts have called it a genocide. Let's wait for you, regular jackoff on the internet, to tell us what's what lol

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Caradoc879 -1 points 3 years ago
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Kben -2 points 3 years ago

You do know that there is thousands of innocent people dead,thousands.So in any right minded human being thats genocide

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Zippit -2 points 3 years ago

You're so disgusting in your way of thinking. I made a special tag for you.

Also, this is what they mean when they say every few years we have to mow the lawn: literally killing Palestinians, because their fragile bodies are threatened by merely the existence of other people.

Your ancestors that survived the Holocaust are rolling in their graves right now. Shame on you for becoming what you hated.

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PorradaVFR 29 points 3 years ago

My entire living family isn’t even 25 people…to lose that many and more would be beyond comprehension. It’s horrific, irrespective of whatever politics you might support. Dead kids with numbers on their arms … nightmare.

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Zippit 10 points 3 years ago

Reminds me of the Holocaust and their numbers. This world has gone crazy.

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Therealgoodjanet 25 points 3 years ago

Even in death there is no peace or dignity for Palestinians, it is absolutely tragic.

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DarkGamer -22 points 3 years ago

When your government refuses to negotiate for viable peace then ramps up hostilities by invading and murdering hundreds of innocent civilians
"Why can't we have peace?"
Guess it's a mystery.

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Therealgoodjanet 16 points 3 years ago

Right. That’s the problem. Not a 75 year occupation, genocide and apartheid. Sure.

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AlpacaChariot 15 points 3 years ago

You can't really say it's "their government" when the Palestinians in Gaza haven't had free and fair elections in years. Hamas has fucked the civilians in both Israel and Gaza. Civilians of either country who don't support the aggressive actions of "their side" (countinued settlement, terrorism) shouldn't be suffering as a result.

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DarkGamer -12 points 3 years ago

You can’t really say it’s “their government” when the Palestinians in Gaza haven’t had free and fair elections in years.

Many people live under governments that are not democracies, those are still their governments. Last time Gaza did have free elections, they elected Hamas.

Hamas has fucked the civilians in both Israel and Gaza.

They sure have.

Civilians of either country who don’t support the aggressive actions of “their side” (countinued settlement, terrorism) shouldn’t be suffering as a result.

And yet that's predictably what always happens in war. I'm sure that there were many innocent civilians who opposed Nazi policies in Germany, yet still shared consequences of the regime that they lived under.

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Catoblepas 10 points 3 years ago

Last time Gaza did have free elections, they elected Hamas.

What year did that happen, again?

And the average Gaza citizen is how old, you say?

Exactly how long does it have to be since a fair election has taken place for you to say that holding children accountable for their parents’ vote is unconscionable?

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snek 7 points 3 years ago

Honestly if killing Palestinian civilians and medical staff and journalists is justifying because of the Hamas attack, doesn't that also mean the Hamas aerracks are justified against cilivlians because of Israel's long list of apartheid and war crimes?

The answer is no to both. Nothing justifies this.

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DarkGamer -4 points 3 years ago

This false equivalency only makes sense if you ignore the difference between intentionally targeting civilians and collateral damage.

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snek 8 points 3 years ago

The former is what Israel does, according to every human rights group and country expept for Israel and a few of its allleies that happen to have genocide of a native nation as part of their history.

Call Israel out on its genocidal bullshit.

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masquenox 2 points 3 years ago

Guess it’s a mystery.

Yeah! Just like the Warsaw Uprising of 1943 was a complete mystery! Why wouldn't those ungrateful Jewish people just accept the wondrous peace the Nazis was offering them, eh? It's a travesty, I tell you!

(/s - for the people on here that arent rabid white supremacists like the one I'm responding to)

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SirToxicAvenger 20 points 3 years ago

that's awful - being unable to get closure

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ickplant 17 points 3 years ago

Yes. In no way am I comparing my situation to what the Palestinians are going through, but I was unable to visit my brother's memorial service or grave, and it messed with my head for 5 years. I cannot imagine what it's like knowing your loved ones are dumped somewhere in a mass grave you can never find.

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Evilcoleslaw 9 points 3 years ago

Yeah my dad passed just when COVID was at its worst, and we just didn't feel comfortable having a service, and i still sometimes feel guilty about it. And I'm not religious at all anymore, and even my family's religious background it's not like there's anything special that must be done. I can't imagine how shitty it feels when you do have specific beliefs and practices that you're really supposed to observe. On top of them just being tossed in a pit somewhere with so many others.

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ickplant 7 points 3 years ago

My condolences. I'm an atheist myself, and yet I needed that closure. My heart goes out to everyone hurting right now.

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SirToxicAvenger 7 points 3 years ago

yeah, assuming there's enough left to get buried at all. my condolences for your situation

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ickplant 8 points 3 years ago

Exactly. It's horrifying to think about. And thank you.

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TheBat 8 points 3 years ago
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Zippit 7 points 3 years ago

Israel Times has a blog/article about Act 2 of the war and one point was urging people to go online on every social media platform and basically suppress Palestinians and their supporters.

You can add tags to their handle. Helps me identify them and when I have the mental strength, fight them on their disinformation campaign. Or just block them.

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autotldr 6 points 3 years ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


(tldr: 5 sentences skipped)

Days later Dirawi was unloading their bodies from the back of a truck, digging a narrow trench partitioned with cinder blocks and reciting abbreviated funeral prayers before nightfall, when Israeli warplanes screeched and everyone ran indoors.

(tldr: 11 sentences skipped)

An estimated 1,700 people remain trapped beneath the rubble as Israel’s air raids impede and imperil civil defense workers, one of whom was killed during a rescue mission Friday.

(tldr: 6 sentences skipped)

That’s how survivors interred Bilal al-Hour, a professor at Gaza’s Al Aqsa University, and 25 of his family members killed Friday in airstrikes that razed their four-story home in Deir al-Balah.

(tldr: 10 sentences skipped)

“We often find this during our work, even just (Thursday) night in Gaza City when 200 people were killed, there were names and ID numbers written in ink on the children’s bodies,” said Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson of the Palestinian Civil Defense.

(tldr: 2 sentences skipped)

In the crowded Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Wednesday, a fierce barrage of Israeli airstrikes leveled an entire block — some 20 multi-story buildings — killing 150 people and trapping more beneath the ruins, residents said.

(tldr: 4 sentences skipped)

Residents of Nuseirat peered into dozens of blood-smeared body bags arranged outside Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital on Thursday, searching for familiar faces, Abdou said.

(tldr: 10 sentences skipped)


The original article contains 1,046 words, the summary contains 227 words. Saved 78%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

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Therealgoodjanet 1 point 3 years ago
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lloram239 -5 points 3 years ago
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Doorbook 6 points 3 years ago

You should go fuck yourself with these inhuman statements. There are millions of ideas if you cared enough.

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lloram239 -4 points 3 years ago
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Claidheamh 5 points 3 years ago

A reminder (that really shouldn't be needed) that collective punishment is a war crime.

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jet 3 points 3 years ago

We can also get rid of Hamas by nuking the entire world and killing every living human

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T00l_shed 0 points 3 years ago

Really? Voted terrorists into power? Got a source on that?

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lloram239 -2 points 3 years ago
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T00l_shed 2 points 3 years ago

Wow an election almost...20 years ago? And how many since? Hmm what's the age of the population in Gaza? And what's the voting age?

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lloram239 -4 points 3 years ago
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Grant_M -15 points 3 years ago

Cowardly Hamas terrorists need to stop intentionally placing Gazan civilians in harms way and using them as shields

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SquishyPandaDev 21 points 3 years ago

You do know that Israel has established a total blockade. Meaning no one can leave

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FunkyButter -10 points 3 years ago

Egypt is a free country that could let in as many as they wanted. But Egypt says “no” citing security concerns. Of course, make the security concerns Israel’s problem and chastise them when they are forced to deal with it.

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sndmn 11 points 3 years ago

Free? Since when exactly?

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DarkGamer 0 points 3 years ago

In this context, it's clear they meant free as in sovereign and able to make their own decisions and policies regarding their border, not anything to do with their government structure or civil rights of Egyptians.

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MxM111 -11 points 3 years ago

And, that’s not what post was about.

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