It’s 3 p.m. after school, and a young girl sits at a kitchen table, hands holding her head while she studies her English textbook, dreaming of reaching others of different cultures and traveling the world. She hears a familiar noise from the counter behind her, turning to see her father’s pager chime with an alert. Swiping it off the table and rushing it to her father, the pager explodes in her hand, killing her instantly. Her name was Fatima Abdullah. She was nine years old and is counted among the 12 killed in the first wave of exploding pagers across Lebanon on Sept. 19.
Thirty-eight more deaths and 3,000 wounded will be added to the count after a wave of explosions, now including walkie-talkies, according to Al Jazeera. Israeli officials do not comment on their role in the attacks, but many Western news outlets, such as CNN and The Associated Press, point to confidential sources that connect the attacks to Israel.
Israel’s attacks targeted Hezbollah, a conservative Shia Muslim political faction within the Lebanese parliament, whose members occupy roughly 12% of the total parliament. Although we might ask, how could Israel really target Hezbollah, if the explosives were essentially deployed into civilian spaces like supermarkets and apartment buildings?
It seems unthinkable that such a thing would happen anywhere else in the Western world. How did Lebanese civilians process these pager explosions, happening inside of homes, hospitals, and funerals? Now that air-strikes have greatly increased since the initial explosions, the Lebanese people are not just fearful of covert bombs planted in civilian spaces—they also fear that any residential space could be struck with a missile at any moment.
For over a year, the world has called upon Israel to declare a ceasefire with Hamas. For decades, activists across the globe have sought an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. The United States and France have drafted a 21-day ceasefire deal between Hezbollah and Israel. While Hezbollah has expressed that they will not sign this ceasefire, the Lebanese government would negotiate with the party, as stated in coverage by The Associated Press. Since this proposal was put forth on Sept. 26, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to acknowledge the deal.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley for Massachusetts’ District 7 has proposed two amendments to Congress: the first, to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza from $9 billion to $26.4 billion, and the second, to stop all further offensive weapon transfers to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for a year. An end to military support to Israel from the U.S. would help create leverage in ceasefire negotiations with Israel, which has consistently rejected all offers put forth by the U.S. and its allies.
You can show support for Rep. Pressley’s proposals by calling her district office at (617) 850-0040. Or through her website pressley.house.gov/contact-us
