MSNBC Anchor Ayman Mohyeldin Criticizes Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza: ‘There Is No Place to Escape’
MSNBC anchor Ayman Mohyeldin criticized the recent Israeli airstrikes in Gaza in an impassioned Instagram post Wednesday, asking people to consider the “psychological terror and trauma” felt by people warned to evacuate their homes, and saying that, for those who live in Gaza, “there is no place to escape.”
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Mohyeldin, who lived in Gaza for two years, criticized Israeli officials for touting their efforts to avoid civilian casualties, saying that it’s nearly impossible to do so in a place as dense as Gaza.
“Even if one building is notified to vacate, look at the damage that is caused to the nearby buildings,” Mohyeldin wrote. “The windows that are blown out, the glass and the debris that injures or kills those in adjacent buildings or on the streets below. Think of the psychological terror and trauma one must feel to receive a phone call to leave their home within minutes.”
Mohyeldin also wrote that, even when warnings come, “there is no place to escape. There are no front lines. There is no place for the displaced to go,” and ended by saying that the conflict “is not a war between equal sides.”
Here is the full text of Mohyeldin’s post:
I lived in Gaza for two years, I’ve covered numerous wars over the years. Israeli officials always highlight how they try to avoid civilians and how they warn residents to vacate their homes ahead of an impending air strike. This picture captures how dense gaza is at the moment of an air strike. Even if one building is notified to vacate, look at the damage that is caused to the nearby buildings. The windows that are blown out, the glass and the debris that injures or kills those in adjacent buildings or on then streets below. Think of the psychological terror and trauma one must feel to receive a phone call to leave their home within minutes.
What do you grab when you are running out? Do you grab food for your children? Their birth certificates? Their favorite doll or toy that helps them sleep? Just clothes?
What we perceive to be an attempt to avoid casualties is psychologically tormenting, terrifying and traumatic. There are no early warning sirens. There are no bunkers. And no shelter will protect you when an entire building, sometimes 13 stories high is collapsed on your head. There is no place to escape. There are no front lines. There is no place for the displaced to go. It’s not like those that reject this violence can just simply cross the border away from the war zone. They are in the war zone whether they move from one building to the next. Imagine if you are a law abiding citizen who rejects this violence and unbeknownst to you someone who lives ten floors down from your apartment is involved in nefarious activity. Imagine you are held responsible for what that neighbor does by having your family home destroyed. It is the very definition of collective punishment.
There is no safe space for the people of Gaza. Even if the innocent people of Gaza reject the violence being carried out they are still paying the price. This is not a war between equal sides.
In recent days, Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed at least 53 Palestinians, including 14 children, and wounded more than 300 people, according to Palestinian health officials, the New York Times reported. Rockets fired into Israel by Hamas and Islamic Jihad have killed at least seven people and injured more than 100, according to Israeli health officials.
