SJ Manders, a graduate student and advocate for Palestinian human rights, has published a three-volume book series titled "Catastrophe in Gaza" that documents the conflict through legal, media, and humanitarian perspectives. The series aims to promote accurate information separate from propaganda and advance public awareness of the war's devastating impact, emphasizing rights to safety, freedom, and self-determination as ingrained in international law, the Geneva Convention, and United Nations Resolution #242.
The first volume, "Catastrophe in Gaza & the Complicity of the West," analyzes the Israeli-Palestinian issue through the lens of biased Western media and explores how politics and media perpetuate Israeli sympathies at the expense of Gaza's civilian population. Manders draws parallels between apartheid in Palestine and South Africa, both established under United Nations auspices in 1948, urging examination of their shared history and divergent paths of liberation versus continued occupation.
The second book, "Catastrophe in Gaza II, All Eyes on Rafah," addresses impunity and escalation, including bombing attacks on humanitarian zones and the advance into Rafah—deemed a red line by the United States—despite over 15,000 child deaths and shortages of food, water, fuel, hospitals, and shelter. The volume serves as a call to action, encouraging readers to resist distractions and pursue justice for Gaza, highlighting the uninterrupted flow of billions in military weapons alongside maintained diplomatic protections.
The third volume, "Catastrophe in Gaza III, War Crimes," invites readers to examine findings from the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice regarding illegal occupation and disproportionate war in Gaza, with escalation into the West Bank and implications for Israel and Palestine's future. It poses fundamental questions about accountability for war crimes such as ethnic cleansing, extermination, using starvation as a method of war, and targeting civilians—all crimes against humanity under international law. Manders questions whether the international community, including the United Nations Security Council and international courts, will uphold legal standards to protect innocent civilians.
As an unaffiliated, non-religious researcher and taxpayer who describes herself as a funder of militarism on Gaza, Manders, an African American, has taken personal responsibility to document truth and facts since October 7, 2023. She aims to forward reports from over 170 targeted and killed humanitarian workers, medical personnel, and journalists to benefit free thought from a public taxpayer perspective. Emphasizing the value of the legal system, she sees international courts as a means to hold violators accountable and provide protection for an oppressed people, drawing comparisons to Apartheid South Africa and racial history in America. For more information, visit https://sjmanders.com/.
