How to Bring Gaza Home

In Fort Wayne, Indiana, this September, I was arrested with a long time activist friend, Cliff Kindy, for blocking the entrance to a Raytheon Corp. facility. We both requested jury trials, and the dates were set for mid-December and early January. Prosecutors dropped the charges in each case, and the trials did not happen.

For my defense, I planned to bring Gaza home to jurors from Allen County, home to Fort Wayne, with wire service photos and by extrapolating the effects of the U.S.-Israeli genocide in Palestine to their own county.

That same approach can be used for any city or county in the U.S. Simply find your population and area, then do the math based on Gaza’s population and area. The genocide statistics were published by Al Jazeera for its summary report on one year of Israel’s U.S.-funded genocide.

U.S. census figures show that Allen County’s population is 395,000—or 18% of Gaza's 2.2 million people—and its area is 660 square miles, roughly 4.5 times that of Gaza’s 144 square miles.

Here, then, is how to bring Gaza home for your city or county.

✴ Tons of Bombs Dropped

As of October 2024, Israel’s military has dropped nearly 85,000 tons of bombs—591 tons per square mile—on Gaza, far exceeding that dropped on Dresden, Hamburg, and London combined in World War II.

For Allen County the comparable number is 390,000 tons of bombs at 591 tons per square mile.

✴ Casualties

More than 43,000 Palestinian bodies, mostly of women and children, were recovered last year. Many thousands more remain buried under the rubble—reliable reports say up to 200,000. Over 97,000 have been wounded. Anesthesia is rarely available.

For Allen County the comparable numbers (18% of the above) are:

• 7,740 bodies recovered.
• 17,460 wounded.
• Up to 36,000 buried under the rubble.
• Over half are women and children.

✴ Healthcare Infrastructure and Personnel

According to the Gaza Media Office, 34 hospitals and 80 health centers have been put out of service, 162 health institutions were hit by Israeli forces, and at least 131 ambulances were hit and damaged. Israeli attacks on hospitals and the continual bombardment of Gaza have killed at least 986 medical workers including 165 doctors, 260 nurses, 184 health associates, 76 pharmacists, and 300 management and support staff.

For Allen County the comparable numbers are:

• 20 hospitals and health centers destroyed.
• 30 doctors, 47 nurses, 14 pharmacists, and 54 support staff killed.
• 24 ambulances damaged.

✴ Disease

In the past year, 75% of Gaza’s population have been infected with contagious diseases from lack of sanitation, open sewage, and inadequate hygiene. At least 10,000 cancer patients can no longer receive the necessary treatment

For Allen County the comparable numbers are:

• 296,250 people (75% of pop.) infected with diseases from lack of sanitation and open sewage.
• 379,000 people (96% of pop.) endure severe lack of food and have not had access to clean water for months.
• 79,000 face outright starvation.
• 1,800 cancer patients do not receive necessary treatment.

✴ Imprisoned

More than 10,000 Palestinians are being held in Israeli prisons under grave conditions with at least 250 children and 80 women among them.

For Allen County the comparable numbers are:

• 1,800 residents held in prison, 599 of them without charges.

✴ Buildings damaged and destroyed

According to the United Nation’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, as of January 2024, 60% of Gaza’s residential homes and 80% of all commercial facilities have been damaged or destroyed.

For Allen County the comparable numbers are:

• 100,800 houses damaged or destroyed
• 7,668 businesses damaged or destroyed

✴ After the war

When the bombing finally stops, whoever attempts to rebuild Gaza—for luxury Israeli condos or refugee housing—will be exposed to unexploded ordnance (UXO), asbestos, PCBs, and carcinogenic ingredients from the toxic soup left by exploded bombs and artillery shells.

For example, in a heavily bombed area of Vietnam, Quang Tri Province (1,832 square miles), an intensive campaign to find and destroy UXOs has eliminated over 815,000 of them—everything from 1,000-pound bombs to cluster bombs and grenades. Given the area of Gaza and the tons of bombs dropped on it, some 64,100 UXOs may lie in wait.

For Allen County the number of UXOs would be 293,7000