Interrupting misinformation

It's my own fault; I should have known better. In an effort to be fair to multiple voices, I listened to the thoughtful Ezra Klein's interview with New York Times uber-pundit and friend to US presidents and Israeli prime ministers, Thomas Friedman. And I was stopped cold when Friedman asked this:

What if [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar had sent a million Gazans to walk to the border carrying the Arab Peace Initiative, not one, not 10,000, a million. What if a million Gazans announced that they were walking to the border peacefully, each carrying the Arab Peace Initiative? ...

Ezra didn't rise to the occasion to correct the record, so I'll give that job to UNWRA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). A non-violent Palestinian march on the Gaza border actually took place during 2018-19. 

...  after the start in Gaza of demonstrations that became known as The Great March of Return (GMR),  scores of people, particularly young men, have been left dead and many others injured, as well as in need of long term medical and psychosocial assistance. According to OCHA figures, as of 22 March 2019, 195 Palestinians (including 41 children) have been killed and close to 29,000 people injured. The United Nations has expressed concerns about the excessive use of force deployed by the Israeli Security Forces (ISF) contrary to applicable standards under international law.

... the Agency is concerned about and deeply affected by the death of 13 of its students, the injury of 227 others, most of them aged between 13 and 15 years, and the likely inability of injured students to keep up with their studies, especially in cases of prolonged absences.

“Since the largely peaceful demonstrations started a year ago, not only did nearly 200 people die, but thousands of others have suffered injuries that will scar them forever,” said UNRWA Director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza, Matthias Schmale. “The tragic and unnecessary loss of lives, the inability of injured people to work or go back to school and the long-term psychological implications of this violence will affect them for many years to come, adding to their despair.”

Non-violent Palestinians get shot when they protest and their pain is discounted. The rest of the world must stop sweeping this into the forgettery.

We can assume that both Youseff's physical therapy program and the hospital where he was treated has been obliterated by Israel's current assault on Gaza.

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Since I made myself listen to the self-aggrandizing Friedman interview, I can report one interesting observation. He asserts that Joe Biden thinks "Hamas is ISIS," which in U.S. terms translates to something like "evil we are not obliged to understand." I'm not sure that flies in any situation, but most certainly not in this one.