The Electronic Intifada Podcast 24 October 2023
Gilbert is a Norwegian emergency doctor who has worked in Gaza during successive Israeli attacks. He spoke to us from Cairo as he tries to join his colleagues in Gaza.
“What we see is such a massive attack on the human habitat, the civilian population, crushed into the very narrow space by the siege. And also the systematic attack on all the provisions you need to live – and that is not, first and foremost, hospitals and ambulances. It is water, it is food, it is electricity, it is human security, and then you may need the medical system,” Gilbert added.
“We go there to stand shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sisters in Gaza, to bear witness, to collect evidence, to treat patients, of course. But most of all, to provide what is most needed now for the people of Gaza, and that is international solidarity,” he said.Calla Walsh and Max Geller of Palestine Action also joined the discussion, urging activists in the US to join their UK counterparts in helping shut down Israeli weapons factories.
Israel’s Elbit Systems is the primary target of the group’s direct actions.
Walsh is one of the founding organizers of the new group Palestine Action US.
“The importance of direct action is that Palestine is not going to be liberated by a shift in liberal consciousness,” said Walsh.“We want people to realize we are not powerless, and that we have a right and a responsibility to stand up and to do more.”
“Elbit is Israel’s largest defense company,” Geller explained. “It functions as a parastatal organization. It participates in active [Israeli army] operations, including the ones that we’ve seen unfolding over the last 17 days.”He added that “Israel’s largest export is its drone fleet, and Elbit makes 85 percent of its drones. It cannot be overstated how integral to the Israeli economy.”
In the second hour of the broadcast, The Electronic Intifada’s contributing editor Jon Elmer continued to interrogate Israel’s plans and capabilities for a ground invasion as its army relentlessly carpet bombs Gaza.
“The Pentagon right now is scouring their reserves looking for 155-millimeter artillery shells that can be used with ground troops in the Gaza Strip,” he explained.
“We’re seeing today disagreements between the army and the political staff in their war cabinet about these objectives. Because the objectives are unclear,” he said.
But, he added, “there’s nobody in the world ready for an existential fight quite like the people of the Gaza Strip.”
“And that’s the people as well, it’s not just the fighters. The fighters aren’t separate from the people, they have immense popular support. … They’ve been subjected to war half a dozen times. They know what they’re talking about.”
Watch the entire broadcast above, or listen via Soundcloud below.
