Thr Den

Israel's killing of Palestinian intellectual leaders is an incalculable loss ‘Throughout the past 11 months of Israel’s war on Gaza, the Israeli army has killed scores of Palestinian scientists, academics and artists, along with their families. Many have been targeted in air assaults, often without warning. Some were crushed to death under debris. Israel’s relentless strikes have also killed hundreds of teachers and thousands of students, while decimating Gaza’s university infrastructure.  Such violence is not new. The Israeli military has a long and bloody history of targeting Palestinian cultural life. Last month marked the anniversary of the death of one of the pioneers of Palestinian literature, Ghassan Kanafani, who was killed more than half a century ago by a Mossad-planted car bomb in Beirut. Kanafani, a decorated and prolific writer whose work cast a global spotlight on the Palestinian cause. More recently, Israel’s deadly violence killed Refaat Alareer, another important Palestinian cultural figure who died in an air strike in Gaza in December. Last December, Israeli bombs killed physicist Sufyan Tayeh and members of his family in the Faluja area of northern Gaza. One of the world’s top researchers and a winner of multiple awards, he had previously been targeted for arrest by Israeli forces. Another victim of Israel’s ongoing assault was Muhammed Qraiqea, a Palestinian artistThe list of victims is long, including doctor Adnan Ahmed al-Barsh; physicist Khitam al-Wasife; and Yousef Dawas, a talented writer and member of the We Are Not Numbers collective - along with many, many others.’ middleeasteye.net/opinion/wa…