Nicholas Kristof, in his column for The New York Times, tells the story of a 10-year-old girl from Gaza, whose father was an X-ray technician. She was intelligent, spoke English fluently, and had been accepted into an international exchange program. She was supposed to travel to Japan for a promising future, but now she lies in a hospital bed, suffering from a severe thigh injury and loss of part of her thigh bone due to a bomb explosion.
Dr. Samer al-Ataar, the orthopedic surgeon who cared for the girl, revealed to Kristof that the girl needs an amputation of her hip to save her life. Her father is struggling to cope with how his life and his daughter’s life have been shattered.
Kristof notes that despite covering many bloody wars and writing scathingly about the reckless bombing of civilians by governments in Russia, Sudan, and Syria, the situation is different this time. Both the Russian and Sudanese governments stand in favor of indiscriminate bombing, and this time, Kristof acknowledges his involvement in funding the bombs through his tax payments.
While understanding Israel’s response, Kristof denounces the military response as not being the only option available, emphasizing Israel’s use of thousand-pound bombs, destroying entire neighborhoods, and allowing minimal aid into the region, currently on the brink of famine. This does not seem to be a war against Hamas, but against all the inhabitants of Gaza.
Kristof questions how Americans, with conflicting views on the war, can face their friends from Gaza without falling into silence or avoiding discussion, as “indifference is the most treacherous danger of all.” He also points out that the suffering of children – half of Gaza’s population – should be of particular concern, highlighting the estimated 17,000 unaccompanied or separated children in the midst of war and displacement.
Some may blame Hamas for all of this, but for Kristof, that seems to be a moral evasion. He emphasizes that Israel and America have the ability to act, and the atrocities suffered by Israeli civilians do not justify the destruction of Palestinian neighborhoods.
He questions how Biden criticizes Russia for bombing civilians and undermining the existing international rules, while supplying bombs to Israel that erase neighborhoods in Gaza, and how he provides diplomatic cover to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while the people of Gaza face famine, especially since his country suspended funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
Kristof concludes that war decisions are painful, and innocent civilians continue to suffer, stressing that an intelligent 10-year-old girl in Gaza is as precious as the life of any American or Israeli child. He asserts that Americans must take responsibility for their complicity in her tragedy and the tragedy of Gaza as a whole.
