I once heard someone say, “You cannot do the work we do every day and feel hopeless.” That’s true, but I cannot help but look at the situation in Gaza and wonder what exactly could be done to make a difference when it appears that all parties refuse to stop going in perilous directions. Many of us probably watch what is going on in Gaza and think, this is far beyond my understanding, or there’s nothing that I can do, and decide to change channels, or web pages, or social media platforms.
But no matter how you decide to turn away from the problem, the problem is still there. As Bernie Sanders said on the Senate floor yesterday, hundreds of thousands of children are facing starvation because of Israel’s bombardment and restrictions on materials crossing the border. We cannot just turn away from that and consider ourselves part of a moral society.
Saint Louis is 6,473 miles away from Gaza. That may seem like worlds away, but news travels at 12,000 miles per second. This means that we are as aware of what is going on in Gaza as we have a desire to be. We have express knowledge of what is going on in Gaza, and if we are not acting to stop innocent people from dying, we are complicit. As Senator Sanders said, this is not some far away natural disaster that we as Americans have nothing to do with. We as American taxpayers are complicit, we help fund it, and we must end it.
Some may think this is about taking sides, and to some extent, it is. I, and the Peace Economy Project, will always stand on the side of peace. I spend a good portion of my life working with children and working in children’s rights. Above all else, I will always stand on the side of children. There is no way that I can stand by and watch children die and do nothing, and there is no way I would support a leader who would allow it to happen either.
As I said, this is about sides. It is about being on the side of peace. It is about helping innocent people. I understand that Hamas committed horrible atrocities against Israeli people, and people should answer for their crimes. However, this does not mean that Israel has the right to take innocent lives in their mission for justice.
Senator Sanders stated that in the five months since Hamas’ attack, 31,000 Palestinians have been killed and 72,000 have been injured, and two-thirds of those have been women and children. The UN has had 165 staff killed by Israeli forces, more than in any other previous war. 364 health workers have been killed and 132 journalists have been killed. Israel’s bombardment has left Gaza in ruins.
Eighty percent of the population has been driven from their homes with no idea of where they are going or when they are going to return. Infrastructure has been destroyed. There is not a single fully functional hospital in Gaza.
The UN warns that starvation and disease are growing threats. People have been reduced to eating leaves and animal feed. There have been reports of children dying of malnutrition.
Despite all of this, the United States continues to support this devastating war against the Palestinian people. We have provided $3.8 billion dollars in military aid to Israel. The Senate approved another $14 billion in military aid. $10 billion of that money is unrestricted military aid that will buy more bombardment against Gaza.
According to Bernie Sanders, we, the American people, want this war to end. We do not want to be part of seeing children go hungry. According to Sanders, 52% of Americans agree that the U.S. should stop weapons shipments to Israel until Israel stops its attack on the Palestinian people. The American people understand that it is absurd and hypocritical. Our leaders should more than understand that.
We need to end U.S. support of this war now. We need to stop funding a war that the majority of Americans do not want to support.
Contact your Congressional representative today and tell them that you will not support any representative in November who supports military aid to Israel. This has gone past far enough. It needs to end now!
Katerina Canyon
Executive Director, Peace Economy Project
