It has been two full months since Israel began its illegal, immoral, genocidal blockade, banning anything but weapons, bombs and death from entering into Gaza. No food, medicine, fuel, clothing, building materials–no anything. Nothing required for anyone or anything to survive in Gaza.
This is the longest complete and total blockade Israel has ever inflicted upon Gaza, and famine is no longer “looming,” it has arrived. And not because of some kind of uncontrollable “natural” disaster–this is entirely human made and human-supported, created by Israel, and enabled by the U.S. Children are dying from malnutrition, and everyone is sick. The World Food Program has run out of food, and prices for what little food remains in Gaza have skyrocketed. What flour there is left is exorbitantly expensive and rancid.
In the midst of all of this, Israel has intensified its campaign of mass murder, targeting Palestinians in every place and during every time– while they are trying to sleep in tents or shelters, when they are trying to receive medical treatment for their illness, while they are trying to get water, when they are searching for food, collecting firewood, or sitting with friends and trying to find a moment of joy amidst so much violence. Even children playing with other children in what used to be a street are targeted. It does not matter when or where. It could be bombs, drones, snipers, shelling, or fire. It could be men, women, children, and pets. It could be journalists, doctors and nurses, teachers, or mother and fathers--it does not matter who they are, what they are doing, or where they are. Israel has dropped all pretext of needing to make up their flimsy excuses–they just kill and harm whenever and wherever in Gaza they want to. They target men, women, and children in broad daylight or under the cover of darkness, ensuring no place is safe, and there is no rest for the weary and traumatized.
What more is there to say to compel the world to act? To get more people in this country to care? To make this a priority? Americans turn out in the streets on the weekends to "resist" the growing fascism of this country, something that unfortunately was not resisted en masse while its roots were clearly growing long before Trump was president. And most often, missing from these laments and demonstrations, is anything about Gaza or Palestine, unless a few of us who are not ‘indivisible’ decide to make our presence visible.
Labor unions can hold May Day rallies so unions can ask for higher pay for their members, but there is no talk of withholding our labor to end a genocidal assault of a forced starvation and mass murder, funded and enabled by this country. What is there left to say? We are running out of time and more Americans need to care. And while I know many do, we still need more. And we need to back up that care with action.
And if you are looking for something you can do, right now, that will help, here are two small things. Much more is needed, but at the very least, please do this:
- Donate to one of the families linked from the Whatcom Families for Justice in Palestine Linktr.ee. These funds are literally survival funds. Please give generously, as much and as often as you can.
- And contact your representative to demand they act to force Israel to end the blockade. (I will be honest, I don’t have that much faith in our current political systems, or the people in power who are supposed to represent us. But it is one thing that more people could easily do, and we should be doing everything we can think of and more right now.)
This is not getting better. It is not getting easier. As I was writing these words, the news broke of the drone attack on the Freedom Flotilla in international waters off the coast of Malta. Efforts to save the lives of Palestinians are being met with more violence and attacks. The U.S. keeps bombing Yemen for daring to defend Palestine. And campus protests are being met with more repression and police brutality. What does this tell you about the current state of the world? And how long can we continue like this?
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