Written by Brian Fry, Printed as an Other Voices piece in The Union as It’s Just Wrong.
There is so much important to say about the root causes of the “conflict” between Israel and the Palestinians:
Zionism. Judaism. Anti-semitism. Islamophobia. Who has a “right to exist” and who doesn’t? Who has a “right to defend themselves” and who doesn’t? The history of the Middle East, settler colonialism, what constitutes genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, freedom of speech on college campuses, and more are all legitimate topics to debate along with “who started this war?” I have plenty that I would like to say on all of that.
But right now, with at least 50-100 innocent civilians dying on average each day in Gaza and now Lebanon, and up to 70% of them women and children, the priority is to stop the massacre. Children are being blown up, dismembered, buried in rubble, incinerated, losing all their family members, chased from one temporary shelter or tent to another, with no safe place to go, and intentionally starved, day after day for nearly 400 days. How can anyone justify that, or look the other way, or even just pray about it and wait for God to solve it?
We can talk about humanitarian aid and the future of Gaza, the “two-state solution” and any other related topic regarding the relationship of Israeli’s, Palestinians, and the rest of the world, but nothing positive can happen there while the war continues and US bombs and bullets and shells keep killing and destroying lives.
For those of us here in the United States, what can we do? Senator Sanders has introduced a bill to restrict military goods from going to Israel in violation of US and International law. Get our Senators, Congresspersons, and yes, City Councils to demand it. This is not just Israel’s genocide. It is (another) US genocide. Any claims of sympathy or concern about civilian victims from the US government ring totally hollow as long as we refuse to do the only thing that has influence over the Netanyahu government. The US must stop sending him weapons and to stop blocking efforts at the United Nations and elsewhere to hold Israel accountable for human rights abuses and violation of international law.
Many of us older folks who grew up in the aftermath of World War II and learned about the Holocaust, were taught to shame the German people for allowing Hitler and Nazi atrocities to occur, and for claiming they didn’t know what was happening to their fellow Jewish citizens. We wondered how the good Germans could let it happen. Some people adopted the theory that it was something about the “German authoritarian personality.” I think by now, many realize that almost any nation or ethnic group is capable of allowing unspeakable crimes to occur in their name. What we still have to realize is that any nation or ethnic group is also capable of demanding justice and peace from their leaders and ourselves.
Brian Fry
Grass Valley