lebensraum
Blogposts posted for a bit then taken down, this one will be as well. Chef Jose Andres' WCK workers had been delivering food and other supplies to Palestinians in Gaza just before they were were deliberately targeted and systematically murdered by IDF forces. Chef Andres chronicles the event below (scroll down).
Anyone who buys into Israel's claim to historic ownership of the land as a gift from God based on the Torah needs also to read the book of Joshua, which details Israel's taking possession, starting with Jericho and Ai: they are ordered by God to kill every occupant of the land they are entering, every man, woman, child and beast, old and young, only saving some of the cattle for themselves. If the Israeli claim on the land is still valid, which it is not except in the mind of fundamentalist Bible inerrantist literalist Christians and the Israeli extreme rightwing who are governing Israel at the moment, Israel is obliged to destroy every man, woman and child, every being, young and old in Gaza; and in the West Bank as well as they proceed with their illegal settlements.
Thus, the starvation strategy in Gaza, integral to their post-war plan for Gaza, to settle their land free of enemy occupants, is revealed in their unwillingness to allow humanitarian aid in to Gaza. Arrogant religious certitude run amok. With Israel's deliberate disposal of the WCK workers, the enemy begins to include us. We shall see what Israel does to obstruct the American plan to deliver relief into Gaza via the pier for receiving supplies from the Mediterranean.
As for the White House buying into Israel's assertion that the attack on the WCK vehicles and workers was "unintentional," all politicians lie against truth to save themselves, and those who do not lie but believe others' lies are idiots. So therefore choose: liars, or fools?
Postable for a couple hours, then down.
RSF&PTL
T88&c
April 3, 2024 8:44 PM UTC
Chef Jose Andres says Israel targeted his aid workers 'systematically, car by car'
Celebrity chef Jose Andres told Reuters in an emotional interview on Wednesday that an Israeli attack that killed seven of his food aid workers in Gaza had targeted them "systematically, car by car."
Speaking via video, Andres said the World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity group he founded had clear communication with the Israeli military, which he said knew his aid workers' movements.
"This was not just a bad luck situation where ‘oops’ we dropped the bomb in the wrong place," Andres said.
"This was over a 1.5, 1.8 kilometers, with a very defined humanitarian convoy that had signs in the top, in the roof, a very colorful logo that we are obviously very proud of," he said. It's “very clear who we are and what we do.”
Andres said the IDF was aware of the convoy's whereabouts. He called for investigations of the incident by the U.S. government and by the home country of every aid worker that was killed.
"They were targeting us in a deconflicting zone, in an area controlled by IDF. They knowing that it was our teams moving on that road ... with three cars," he said.
The aid workers were killed when their convoy was hit shortly after they oversaw the unloading of 100 tons of food brought to Gaza by sea. Israel's military expressed "severe sorrow" over the incident and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it unintentional.
Andres said there may have been more than three strikes against the aid convoy. He rejected Israeli and U.S. assertions that the strike was not deliberate.
"Initially, I would say categorically no," Andres said when asked if he accepted that explanation.
"Even if we were not in coordination with the (Israel Defense Forces), no democratic country and no military can be targeting civilians and humanitarians," he added.
Asked for comment on Andres' remarks, an Israeli military spokesperson referred to prior comments by chief of staff Herzi Halevi in which he called the incident a grave mistake and said the attack "was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers."
Andres said he was personally supposed to be there with his team but was not able to go back to Gaza at the time.
The U.S. needs to do more to stop the war, he said. Andres spoke to President Joe Biden on Tuesday.
"The U.S. must do more to tell Prime Minister Netanyahu this war needs to end now," he said. He questioned Biden administration moves to supply aid in Gaza while also arming Israel.
"It's very complicated to understand ... America is going to be sending its Navy and its military to do humanitarian work, but at the same time weapons provided by America ... are killing civilians," he said.
The chef also wondered aloud how Netanyahu could wage a war to save Israeli hostages "when they may be dying under the rubble of the same weapons" Israel used against Palestinians.
CAR BY CAR
Andres said his organization was still studying the safety situation in Gaza as it contemplates starting aid deliveries again.
Australian, British and American citizens were among seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed as it was leaving its Deir al-Balah warehouse.
At least 196 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza since October, according to the United Nations, and Hamas has previously accused Israel of targeting aid distribution sites.
Andres described how he learned of the attack, saying first his group lost contact with its team in Gaza, and did not realize what happened until seeing images of the bodies.
He said that after the IDF attacked the first armored car, the team was able to escape and move to a second car which was then attacked, forcing them to move to the third car.
The aid workers tried to communicate to make clear who they were, he said, adding IDF knew they were in the area which it controlled.
Then the third car was hit, "and we saw the consequences of that."
World Central Kitchen began last month moving food aid to starving people in northern Gaza via a maritime corridor from Cyprus, in collaboration with Spanish charity Open Arms. The charity coordinated closely with Israel's military, Arab nations and others, Andres said earlier.
Biden said he was "outraged and heartbroken" by the deaths. The U.S. sided with Netanyahu's assertion that the strikes were not deliberate.
Founded by Andres, 54, in 2010 after a Haiti earthquake, World Central Kitchen has tried to sidestep red tape around the world to rush aid to disaster-hit areas, including Ukraine after the Russian invasion. The conflict began after Hamas attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures.
Since then, much of the densely populated territory has been laid waste and most of its 2.3 million population displaced. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Andres condemned the war as a whole.
"This it seems is a war against humanity itself. And you can never win that war. Because humanity eventually will always prevail," he said.
Reporting by Jeff Mason; additional reporting by Nandita Bose and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Heather Timmons, Rami Ayyub and David Gregorio
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles
American killed in Israeli strike in Gaza was father, military veteran
When Jacob Flickinger went to the Gaza Strip three weeks ago to distribute food with World Central Kitchen, he asked his father to tell his mother he was in Cyprus instead. He didn’t want her to worry.
He planned to leave at the end of this week, he told his father, John, on Sunday via text. The two wished each other a happy Easter.
The next day, the 33-year-old dual U.S.-Canadian citizen was dead, one of seven World Central Kitchen workers killed by Israeli airstrikes on the aid group’s convoy.
“He was a good man,” his father said. “He was doing what he loved and just wanted to serve and help others.”
Jacob Flickinger was born and spent most of his childhood in Saint-Georges, a small city in Quebec, the son of a Canadian mother and an American father.
Flickinger spent nearly a decade in the Canadian Armed Forces and did a tour of duty in Afghanistan, where he served in Kandahar, his father said.
After leaving the military in 2019, he met his partner, Sandy Leclerc, and they had a baby boy. The couple moved to Costa Rica, where Flickinger began building a business as a fitness trainer.
To support his family, he started looking for other opportunities. His first stint with World Central Kitchen was last November, when he spent a month in Mexico in the aftermath of a major hurricane.
When a friend told him about the WCK mobilization in Gaza, he volunteered to help distribute food shipments arriving by sea. The work combined the skills he learned in the military and his desire to help, his father said.
“Women and children are starving to death, it’s all over the news every day,” said John Flickinger, 67. “He felt he could make a small difference.”
Jacob’s death appears to mark the first time an American has been killed in Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces since the war began on Oct. 7, after the Hamas attack on Israel. Nearly 33,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians. It says the majority of the dead are women and children.
At least 21 U.S. citizens serving in the IDF have also been killed in Gaza.
John described his son as a loyal friend, someone who even as a boy was inclined to protect the weak and stand up to aggressors. To support Jacob’s partner and 18-month-old son, John and a friend of Jacob’s launched a fundraiser.
“I want his story to be told,” John said through tears. In war, “the people that suffer are the mothers, the fathers, the sons, the daughters, the survivors of what is insanity.”
Amanda Coletta in Toronto contributed to this report.