“Terrifying, Immoral, and Inhumane"

How The Zionist State is blocking baby formula in Gaza

Hi everyone, first of all, last week we raised $100:

Thank you again to paid subscribers, all your money goes directly to The Sameer Project.

Last week, I wrote about how Israel is blocking food, water, fuel, and medical supplies to Palestinians in Gaza. Today I want to say a bit more - in particular, about how the Zionist State is blocking baby formula from entering Gaza. Even writing that makes me feel insane.

The Zionist State is blocking baby formula.

The Zionist State is ensuring that babies in Gaza will starve to death.

Dr. Mohammad Saqer, Nasser Hospital’s director of nursing, has famously said of COGAT’s (The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, an arm of the Israeli military) blocking of aid into Gaza: “The situation here is terrifying, immoral, and inhumane.”

The Zionist State is genocidal and genocide comes in so many forms. One form is ensuring that the mass-starvation of babies is a normal occurance. Don’t normalize this - continue to be outraged, no matter how exhausted you are. And then please donate to The Sameer Project’s Medical Campaign so they can continue to access and distribute baby formula.

For almost nine months, COGAT has been blocking necessary supplies from entering Gaza. COGAT spokespeople have claimed there is no ban and right wing Israeli media is parroting this talking point. But even Haaretz and The Times of Israel are admitting what we know is true:

Even Israeli media is better at active voice than US corporate media (for more on this, please follow Assal Rad, who brilliantly corrects passive voice headlines (most notably from the NYTimes).

For newborns and infants, this blockade is an extreme death sentence. If nursing parents are not receiving the nutrients they need, their bodies won’t produce milk for their nursing babies. Accessing baby formula is almost impossible. The Zionist State is both banning baby formula from outside Israel from entering Gaza and demanding that aid organizations purchase baby formula from Israel itself. This makes baby formula virtually unaffordable. Because of this, babies are dying of malnutrition and starvation, as well as water-born disease, as most formula that is allowed to enter Gaza is powdered and must be mixed with water. There are spiking cases of meningitis because babies are ingesting this contaminated water. Given that much of the water available in Gaza is polluted, parent are faced with the nightmarish choice of letting their babies starve to death or potentially exposing them to bacteria and pollutants in the water they use to make the baby formula (if they are lucky enough to even have access to baby formula). Either way, COGAT has created a death sentence for the most vulnerable.

This scarcity is making the most basic and necessary items (flour, water, baby formula) unaffordable for most people, if they can access good at all. This is from The Sameer Project:

“With the imminent possibility of babies dying from complications caused by malnutrition, The Sameer Project focused on this horrific situation by calling every contact we have in Gaza to source baby formula.

We were able to find and purchase 82 cans of formula Number 1 and 2 for infants and those that cannot digest other types. Each can cost 175 shekels in cash, so after 40% cash withdrawal commission fees, it was nearly $75, and $6,057 for the whole purchase.

We were able to do this because of your contributions. One can of formula for $75 will save a baby’s life.

We purchased the cans and within one hour of picking them up they were delivered to babies in the hospitals, on oxygen, and needing the nutritional support the most. This is Patient Friend’s Hospital in Gaza City where we distributed 30 cans to inpatients and 6 to babies waiting in the hallways to be examined.”

You read that right - one can of baby formula can cost $75. That’s bananas. You can help the Sameer Project with their life-saving work by donating to the Medical Campaign here.

Some housekeeping (and other ways to support The Sameer Project):

If you are in the NYC area, please come to Brooklyn Poets on Saturday, July 26th, for an in-person fundraiser for The Sameer Project!

The book/art sale is free and open to the public. The poetry reading is a ticketed event so please buy your tickets here - tickets are $10 but please add a donation to your ticket if you can afford it. Every penny raised goes straight to The Sameer Project’s Medical Campaign.

ALSO - our first Palestine reading group meeting will be on August 3rd, from 3-4:30pm EST (12-1:30pm PST) - We will be reading Hala Alyan’s I’ll Tell You When I’m home (which you can purchase here or wherever books are sold, preferably your local indie). If you are a paid subscriber, you are invited! If you aren’t, please make a donation to The Sameer Project and send me your receipt. In return, I’ll send you the Zoom link. Please be as generous as possible (I suggest at least $30 but no one will be turned away for lack of funds)

I want to hear from you! Are you organizing events? Do you know of other mutual aid initiatives? What are you doing to get money into the hands of folks in Gaza? Send me a message and I’ll share ideas next week. Good luck!