By Jessie Blue

New York City — On July 5, autonomous activists alongside PAL-Awda Long Island gathered in the heart of the central city of U.S. capitalism, Times Square, to reenact the death traps Palestinians face when simply attempting to reach food and other aid. The enactment was chillingly entitled “Gaza’s ‘Real Life’ Hunger Games.” 

Over the past month, Israeli military forces have targeted, bombed and gunned down people seeking simple necessities for survival. The Israel/U.S.-backed “food distribution organization,” even more chillingly entitled the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, announces the distributions. The foundations set the stage for 19 separate massacres in which more than 549 Palestinians were killed and over 4,000 wounded.

The war crime has been evident from the start. The level of daily mass killing is the result of the Israeli military’s deliberate policy of shooting live small arms ammunition, tank rounds and mortars into crowds of aid-seekers. The military’s aim is to turn food distribution points into killing fields as part of Israel’s ongoing genocide. 

Over the past 21 months, New York residents have made it clear that they oppose the U.S. and Israel’s war crimes and refuse to back down until full humanitarian aid is safely let into Gaza alongside a complete arms embargo.