03/02/2024
A 10-year-old girl in Gaza is whip smart, speaks English and was supposed to leave for an exchange program in Japan. Instead, she must have her leg amputated at the hip to save her life. I spoke to the American surgeon who treated her on his visit to Gaza, and his stories of the suffering of Gaza's children break my heart -- and also have me reflecting on American complicity in this suffering.
I hope President Biden will search his soul and stop providing the 2,000-pound bombs and diplomatic cover that enable this war. And likewise, I hope he reverses the cut-off of funds for UNRWA, the UN agency that is providing a lifeline of aid in Gaza. I share Biden's outrage that a dozen of UNRWA's 13,000 employees allegedly joined the brutal Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7; that was unconscionable. But it would also be unconscionable if our response led more children to die of wounds or starve to death in Gaza -- even as we pretend we've staked the high moral ground.
Here's my column: https://nyti.ms/3SIB9lP These are difficult, polarizing issues, so please be respectful of each other's views.
