By Reginald Johnson
For years, Raghda Shawa was a beloved doctor
in Gaza.
A
pediatrician, Dr. Shawa cared for thousands of young children when they were
sick, according to Lana Shawa Savoca, a relative who lives in Greenwich, CT and who
was treated by Dr. Shawa at age 1-1/2.
Shawa rose to
be head of the Children’s Department at Al-Shifa Hospital, a top medical
institution in Gaza City.
“She was a brilliant, kind woman,” said Savoca.
Last
November, Dr. Shawa, 85, confined to a wheelchair, was living in her home near Al-Shifa
Hospital with her two ailing sisters, and two nurses, as the Israeli military
campaign raged in the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces were fighting near the
hospital and homes in the area were being bombed.
“One day, two
young Israeli soldiers came to the door. They said her home was marked to be
bombed and they needed to evacuate,” said Savoca. “She looked at them and said,
‘You know I’m in a wheelchair. Where can I possibly go? There’s nowhere to go.
Everything’s been bombed. I’m elderly. I have two older sisters who are sick
here and two nurses. Why would you bomb my home?’ ” recounted Savoca.
Savoca continued,
“after she explained her situation they decided to leave. They apologized and
said, ‘It’s okay, we’ll make sure that your home won't be bombed.’ “
After a
number of days the army pulled out of the Al-Shifa area, and Dr. Shawa and the
other women were spared --- for now. But fierce fighting continued throughout
the Gaza Strip, with Israel bombing at will --- striking hospitals, refugee
camps, universities, food warehouses and wiping out whole neighborhoods. Despite
international condemnation for the brutality of their campaign, Israel --- fully backed by the United States ---
refused to agree to a ceasefire.
In March,
fighting returned to the Al-Shifa hospital area, with the hospital itself
coming under attack. Doctors and medical personnel who refused to leave were
shot.
Perhaps with
a sense of foreboding, Dr. Shawa left the following voice recording with a
relative: “Gaza has been exterminated. Look at your TV and watch… The whole
world is watching… That’s all you’re doing, just watching, not doing anything.…
Everyone is dancing on our wounds.”
The exact
details are not clear, but Savoca’s uncle, Mirwan Shawa, said Israeli warplanes which were bombing the area, also bombed Dr. Shawa’s home, despite the
earlier pledge this would not happen. All the inhabitants were killed. No
evacuation warning had been given, he said.
After the
Israeli army withdrew weeks later, relatives returned to where the house once
was, and recovered the remains of those killed. A record of the deaths was made
at the Gaza Health Ministry.
Savoca’s aunt
in Ramallah in the West Bank, who knew Dr. Shawa personally, sent out a text
relaying the sad news. “I can’t believe this monstrous act,” she wrote.
 |
| Dr. Raghda Shawa, center. A distinguished doctor in Gaza for decades, she was killed along with her sisters and two nurses when an Israeli warplane bombed her home in March. No evacuation warning was given before the bombing. |
Tragically,
Dr. Shawa’s death was just one of many among the wider Shawa family in Gaza.
Savoca said that the Health Ministry has recorded some 92 members of her family who have died since the Gaza war began in October of last year.
“They were
killed by bombing, shelling, and possibly starvation,” Savoca said.
The news of
Dr. Shawa’s death, and so many others in the Shawa family, has left Savoca
shattered.
“It’s just
so, it’s beyond words at this point,” she said. “I mean there is no regard for
Palestinian lives, at all. I mean the elderly are not valued, the young are not
valued, doctors, especially, are not valued, nor are the lives of writers or
journalists. This is unprecedented what is happening… this is indiscriminate
killing,” she said.
 |
| The spreadsheet put together by the Shawa family of Gaza showing the names of 92 family members who have been killed in the Israel-Gaza War. The names were taken from the Gaza Health Ministry. |
What happened
to the Shawa family has happened to many other extended families in Gaza during
the Israel-Hamas conflict. An investigation by the Associated Press published
in June said that 60 families in Gaza lost dozens or more members in the war
during the deadliest period of the war, between October and December of last
year.
The AP
investigation found in those families that at least 25 people were killed –
sometimes four generations from the same bloodline.
“To a degree
never seen before, Israel is killing entire Palestinian families, a loss even
more devastating than the physical destruction and the massive displacement,”
the article said. https://apnews.com/article/gaza-palestinians-families-israel-war-deaths-a9f8bcfe402c17f1f78903eae67b7a7d
“It’s just
so horrifying,” said Savoca. “They say ‘Never Again.’ But it doesn’t apply to
the Palestinians.”
The war in
Gaza began in October of last year when Hamas militants raided a music fair in
southern Israel and killed 1200 people. Israel responded with a major counter
attack and has waged a relentless campaign in the months since in efforts to
root out Hamas, the faction that leads the government in Gaza.
Some 38,000
people in Gaza have been killed, the majority women and children, according to
the Health Ministry. A recent study by the medical publication Lancet, however,
reported that the real death toll is more like 186,000. “The study pointed
out that the death toll is higher because the official toll does not take into
account thousands of dead buried under rubble and indirect deaths due to
destruction of health facilities, food distribution systems and other public
infrastructure,” said an article on the Lancet report in al-Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/8/gaza-toll-could-exceed-186000-lancet-study-says
A number of
human rights groups and UN officials have accused the Israeli military of using
disproportionate force and committing numerous war crimes. In February, the International
Court of Justice said there was a plausible case to be made that Israel was
committing a genocide in Gaza.
There's also reports by UN officials that famine is setting in in Gaza, due to food shortages, caused in part by Israeli attacks on relief trucks and food centers.
Israeli officials have countered the criticism
by maintaining that they use precision in targeting Hamas fighters and try to
avoid killing civilians. They further maintain that Hamas combatants use
Palestinians as shields, so the loss of Palestinian lives is unavoidable.
They also deny trying to impede relief efforts.
Meanwhile, despite the widespread criticism of
Israel and its tactics, the Biden administration has continued to provide all
the funds necessary for Israel to wage war and most members of Congress from both parties have also given Israel full backing. Only a few
representatives have said that they would not vote for further appropriations
for Israel and support a permanent cease-fire.
The
devastating losses of her family members in Gaza has prompted Savoca to turn to
activism to try to change US policy and stop the war. She spends almost all her
time now calling the White House and members of Congress including U.S. Rep.
Jim Himes, D-4, who represents lower Fairfield County, and Connecticut’s two
senators, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy --- urging them to back a permanent
ceasefire.
She also
attended a massive demonstration against the war in Washington, DC in January and joined others to
protest President Joe Biden when he came to Greenwich for a campaign fundraiser
at the home of an HBO executive.
 |
| Lana Shawa Savoca, of Greenwich, at a demonstration against the Israeli-Gaza War in Washington, DC in January. |
Savoca has
also worked hard to get cease-fire resolutions passed by local city and town
councils.
While she’s
been heartened by the support given by some for her work she’s had some real
disappointments, too.
Savoca and
other pro-Palestinian activists tried unsuccessfully to get the City Council in
Yonkers, New York (where she used to live)
to pass a cease-fire resolution for Gaza. Such resolutions have been
passed by more than 100 other towns and cities around the country including
Bridgeport, CT, Albany, NY, Chicago, Ill., Atlanta, GA, San Francisco, CA and Seattle, WA.
At the meeting to consider the resolution
proposal, Savoca told the heartbreaking story of what happened to Dr. Shawa
and her other relatives.
“I probably
sobbed the whole way through,” Savoca said. “We had 60 people that shared their
stories and the entire time, one of the councilmen was on the phone. Another
one was eating. We were just standing up pouring out our feelings crying,
pleading, saying, please!” she said.
“We know that
the City Council in Yonkers doesn’t have much say on world issues, but my God,
we just want you to listen to your constituents, like there are so many Arabs
in Yonkers --- so many Jordanians, Palestinians and a huge Christian Jordanian
community,” she said.
Savoca was
stopped from finishing her testimony when the council chairwoman, Tish James, who
did not look at her while she was speaking, slammed down her gavel
and said ‘Your time is up! Your time is up!’ “
Another upsetting experience for Savoca has been how
her career has evaporated since she began her activism on behalf of Palestine.
Previously a blogger and writer promoting
products online, Savoca said many of her business contacts have dried up once
she made known that she was an advocate for the Palestinian cause.
“Some people
blacklisted me. There are some people who live in Westchester that are Jewish
and maybe they feel like they have a connection to Israel. I found out later
they actually blocked me. I’m not invited to any of the influencer events or blogger
events. I kind of had to reinvent myself because I’m a very social person,” she
said.
“I’ve lost
all revenue, everything,” said Savoca. “Which is fine. I mean I will always
speak my opinion, especially when it comes to Palestine. I can’t stay silent on
this.”
As the US presidential election campaign heats up and news outlets turn their attention to Joe Biden and Donald Trump, as well as to developments in the Ukraine war, the focus on the Gaza conflict has receded.
"That shouldn't happen, because it's becoming this terrible norm," Savoca said. "We need to have brave journalists to talk about it and people still to call Congress to protest. It's just, it's a living hell – it's an absolute living hell for those people."
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