During a press conference held in Ramallah, Dr Mustafa Barghouthi launched Palestine’s Guernica Book, a review of the events surrounding the massacres in Gaza during the last winter.
The Book, that has been produced by the team of Palestine Monitor – an independent team of journalists and reporters presenting the occupation of Palestine - in response to the Israeli attacks on Gaza, collects new and previously published materials.
Former Vice President of the European Parliament, Luisa Morganini and Eyad Sarraj, founder and president of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program, took part in the event.
What is Palestine’s Guernica?
Split into before, during and after sections, Guernica begins the narrative from Israel’s unilateral disengagement in 2005, and the escalation which followed. We see how Israel’s siege of Gaza led to Hamas’ election success and the shaky ceasefires that ensued, making conflict inevitable. Reports from human rights groups, politicians and journalists describe the suffering of civilians before the attack, the poverty, disease and unemployment resulting from Israel’s illegal blockade.
The events of December and January are detailed with editorials, witness testimonies and a thorough set of statistics, taken from the UN and independent human rights groups. Foreign ministers, academics and UN officials unite in condemnation of an assault targeting civilians and property as much as Hamas. The truth of collective punishment is documented, exposing the lie of Israel’s ’moral’ army. Powerful eyewitness accounts reveal the daily trauma of victims trapped in the killing zone; a mother describes discovering her five dead daughters, a doctor details the murder of his family. For survivors like these, the scars of a month long terror will never heal.
The cynical tactics of the IDF are laid bare, from the shelling of civilian targets, to a calculated destruction of essential resources that are crippling the Gazan economy today. Guernica also gives in depth analysis of Israel’s attempts to control the media, down to individually targeting journalists and cameramen.
In the aftermath, as Gaza struggles to rebuild and a new generation grows out of the ashes, Guernica examines the legacy of war. The implications for a future peace, international involvement and the prospects for a young and traumatised population. Will the perpetrators of massacre go unpunished? Will the siege ever end? In the words of guest editor and Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi; "Goldstone was just the beginning".