When Children Are Executed

A post to read only in a state of equanimity

Palestinian children hold signs protesting Israeli military strikes on Gaza during a vigil in Bethlehem's Manger Square during an earlier period of escalating violence more than a decade ago. Photo credit: rrodrickbeiler

My Buddhist practice calls on me to be as aware as possible of the world’s suffering, to do what I can to relieve it, and to maintain my equanimity—my calm in the storm. My conviction that I live in a Pure Land enables me to remain calm. The world cannot be other than what causes and conditions lead it to be. I’m an interconnected part of that and continue my practice to relieve as much suffering as I can.

In the Dhammapada, the Buddha teaches:

Be quick to do good,
     Restrain your mind from evil.
When one is slow to make merit,
     One's mind delights in evil. (#116)

My age and physical limitations prevent me from dashing off to war zones or scenes of natural disaster, but sometimes I can “do good” and “make merit” by speaking out against injustice. That’s why I feel called to spread the message from a guest essay in today’s New York Times. Written by Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, it begins:

I worked as a trauma surgeon in Gaza from March 25 to April 8. I’ve volunteered in Ukraine and Haiti, and I grew up in Flint, Mich. I’ve seen violence and worked in conflict zones. But of the many things that stood out about working in a hospital in Gaza, one got to me: Nearly every day I was there, I saw a new young child who had been shot in the head or the chest, virtually all of whom went on to die. Thirteen in total.

After returning home to the United States, Sidhwa learned that other physicians had similar experiences, so he worked with the Times to poll 65 healthcare workers about what they saw when working in Gaza. Forty-four doctors, nurses, and paramedics reported having seen multiple instances of preteens who were shot in the head or chest. Nine didn’t report seeing such injuries, and twelve didn’t regularly work with children in emergency situations.

Dr. Mimi Syed, who worked in Khan Younis for less than a month, provided X Rays and said:

I had multiple pediatric patients, mostly under the age of 12, who were shot in the head or the left side of the chest. Usually, these were single shots. The patients came in either dead or critical, and died shortly after arriving.

The article, written with what I take to be journalistic caution, never uses the term “execution-style,” but that’s the obvious conclusion. These children were executed.

Here are three of the other findings from the poll of 65 doctors, nurses, and paramedics:

• 63 saw severe malnutrition.

• 52 reported widespread psychiatric distress in young children.

• 25 saw babies who had been born healthy die from dehydration, starvation, or infections.

I’m sharing the link to the full article again without a paywall. It includes three X Rays and many quotes, as well as a strong argument that:

The United States must stop arming Israel.

And afterward, we Americans need to take a long, hard look at ourselves.

I’ve spoken out before in this post:

As a Jew and a Buddhist, I Say: "Enough!"

After reading today’s Times guest essay, I must speak out again. As a Jew by ethnic heritage, a Buddhist by chosen religion, an American by birthright, and a citizen of the world, I call on the Biden Administration and the Harris campaign to condemn more strongly the Netanyahu government’s use of “self-defense” as a pretext to conduct a campaign of mass terrorism and territorial expansion. Making the same argument to the Trump campaign would, I suspect, be useless.

I’ll close with the translation of the song posted as the musical bonus below:

Peace be unto you

Peace be unto you, ye ministeri​​​​ng Angels, Angels of the 
most High, ye that come from the Supreme King of Kings, 
the Holy One, blessed be He. 

May your coming be in peace, ye ministeri​​​​ng Angels, Angels 
of the most High, ye that come from the Supreme King of Kings, 
the Holy One, blessed be He. 

Bless​ me with peace, ye ministeri​​​​ng Angels, Angels of the 
Most High, ye that come from the Supreme King of Kings, the 
Holy One, blessed be He. 

Go ye forth in peace, ye ministeri​​​​ng Angels, Angels of the 
Most High, ye that come from the Supreme King of Kings, the 
Holy One, blessed be He.

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