Six weeks ago, there were traces of polio in Gaza's wastewater. Today, the deadly paralyzing disease threatens an outbreak.
Tamer Qarmout, an Associate Professor in Public Policy at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies appears on Al Jazeera, stating "That's so pathetic...to get to the stage where the International community is begging Israel to vaccine children. And this tells you to what extent this war has become immoral and genocidal." He also brings up a point by a speaker of the World Health Organization, which is that even if vaccinations are carried out, these children might end up dying anyway, not from polio, but from Israel's attacks.
Israel is not the only immoral state in this conflict. Six more Israel hostages were found dead in Gaza yesterday, sparking protests in Israel, all demanding Netanyahu for an immediate cease-fire. All around, this seems to be the common chant. It appears the media is putting out one message, whether it be Palestinians, Israelites, or Americans, that a ceasefire is necessary. But will Netanyahu listen?
President Biden, at least is listening. Although he has been staying away from Netanyahu during the height of the presidential campaigns (due to Democratic disapproval of Netanyahu), he has voiced his opinion that Netanyahu simply isn't doing enough to free the hostages and call for a ceasefire.
So far, the World Health Organization and UNICEF have transported over 1.2 million doses of oral polio vaccines to areas in Gaza where fighting will be paused. They are expecting about 400,000 more doses to account for the initial vaccination. Four weeks later, a booster immunization will be provided, in which another pause in the war will take place. This temporary pause in fighting may not be permanent, but the increasing stakes certainly require it to be so.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/30/world/middleeast/gaza-polio-vaccinations.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/01/world/middleeast/gaza-polio-vaccine.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4LEws4FT30
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hersh-goldberg-polin-israeli-american-hostage-killed-in-gaza-family-says/
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/2/biden-says-netanyahu-not-doing-enough-to-secure-gaza-ceasefire-deal
1 comment:
With such a complex issue as the war going on in Israel, it is very controversial to make a stance supporting one side or another, however one thing I think most people can agree on is that the children regardless of the side they are on are not to blame. With so much rising tension and destruction of both sides, no child is really safe in this country, and they have no control over the violence of the war. Therefore, the vaccinations should be given longer than just the three days permitted by Israel for polio because it truly is the very least, they can do after participating, and being so eager to continue participating, in a war killing thousands of innocent children.
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