“People were going to die so the settlers could continue to claim more of what they determined was their ancient homeland. They would push Arabs out of Hebron, and then out of the West Bank altogether. It was a fantasy, an Arab land without Arabs, just like Hamas dreaming of the Holy Land without Jews.”
— Lawrence Wright, Human Scale, Alfred A. Knopf, 2025, p. 39
This dense novel by a Pulitzer Prize–winning author moves between past and present, tracing the histories of Arabs, Israelites, and the land they continue to fight over. The conflicts on the page feel disturbingly close to what is unfolding now.
As of July 25, 2025: Israelis are starving Gaza.
The following account comes from Democracy Now!
“Why Is the World Letting It Happen?”
U.K. Surgeon, Back from Gaza, on Starving Children
Dr. Nick Maynard, a surgeon who has just returned from volunteering in Gaza for the past month, describes a pattern reminiscent of “target practice” in the injuries medical staff are treating. As evidence grows of deliberate massacres of Palestinians seeking aid at U.S.- and Israeli-backed aid sites, Maynard says the injuries suggest that Israeli military forces and private security contractors are “playing some sort of game” with civilians — shooting at the head one day, “the abdomen tomorrow, the testicles the day after that.”
Because of Israel’s blockade on food and medicine — outside of sparse, dangerous aid distributions — normally survivable injuries have become fatal.
“Because they’re so malnourished, their tissues don’t heal. Their immune systems are suppressed. … They often end up breaking down, causing terrible infections inside the body, and frequently these patients die.”
Transcript from Democracy Now!, July 25, 2025.
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: “This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. We turn now to the forced starvation unfolding in Gaza, where malnourished children are overwhelming the remaining hospitals.
Today, the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City announced the death of Palestinian child Abdul Qader al-Fayoumi from malnutrition — the 115th starvation-related death since Israel reimposed a siege on Gaza in March.
Israeli attacks across Gaza killed at least 62 Palestinians Thursday, 19 of them while trying to collect food from militarized aid sites run by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Displaced Palestinian women in Rafah were directed to a women-only distribution section, where they were attacked with tear gas and pepper spray.”
What is a decent person to do? What am I to do in the face of this horror — inflicted now by a people who were themselves grievously wronged?
Wronged people can commit wrongs in their turn. No matter how I look at it, deliberately starving innocent children is horrible, horrible, horrible.
The horror continues into the present. Sometimes all I can do is wait — and hope — for better times.
“. . . even in the midst of an extreme situation, the wise are patient. Whether the situation is illness, calamity, or their own anger, they know that healing will follow upheaval.”
— Deng Ming-Dao, Chinese author and artist, 365 Daily Meditations, HarperSanFrancisco, 1992, p. 11
About Dr. Jo Ann Lordahl
Dr. Jo Ann Lordahl is a lifelong author, poet, novelist, and speaker whose work explores empowerment, aging with grace, and the deep questions that define our lives. Her books and reflections — from historical fiction to meditations on creative living — encourage resilience, reflection, and positive transformation.
If this post stirs questions about moral courage, shared humanity, or the work of healing in hard times, consider exploring Dr. Lordahl’s writing — especially her essays and books on reflection and personal transformation. Her voice reminds us that even in upheaval, there is a path toward patience, insight, and compassionate action.
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