On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that due to the “trauma” of both October 7 and “the trauma that’s been inflicted on Palestinians since then” “one of the challenges is overcoming dehumanization, making sure that people continue to see the humanity in the other and act accordingly.”
Blinken stated, “What we’re seeing throughout the region, in all directions, is, unfortunately, because of the trauma that’s been inflicted — October 7, the trauma that’s been inflicted on Palestinians since then — one of the challenges is overcoming dehumanization, making sure that people continue to see the humanity in the other and act accordingly. Look, we just had an incredibly successful polio vaccination campaign in Gaza in the midst of this conflict, five or six hundred, a thousand young Palestinian children were vaccinated. I think that demonstrates, not only what was possible with regard to polio, but what should be possible in terms of getting more humanitarian assistance to people. It’s doable. And we are strongly, strongly, strongly pressing and urging the Israelis to do more.”
He continued, “Now, it’s an incredibly challenging environment. You’ve got an enemy that hides within the civilian population, in and under schools, mosques, apartment buildings. You have conflict raging, you’ve got lawlessness, you’ve got looting, you’ve got all sorts of chaos that makes it difficult for the humanitarians to do their jobs. But this polio campaign demonstrated that it is doable, it’s possible, and we’re going to be pushing on that.”
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