Changing Our Ways
This week as Israeli bombs fell on Gaza, thousands of people gathered in the US Capitol calling for an immediate ceasefire. This rally, organized by IfNotNow and Jewish Voices for Peace, is part of a growing movement of people of conscience calling for an end to violence, an end to occupation and for the full self-determination and dignity of the Palestinian people.
Since the attacks by Hamas two weeks ago, the Israeli bombing of Gaza, the call for evacuation of 1 million people and the blockade of humanitarian aid have intensified an already dire situation for the Palestinians people. For nearly two decades, the people in Gaza, an area roughly the size of Detroit, have been under siege, imprisoned by an apartheid regime that has as its aim the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. Food and power have been rationed, water is poisoned, and medical supplies limited. Half the population are children, deprived of the most basic opportunities for safety and life. People have been facing a slow, agonizing death for decades. All of this is well documented and well understood by the US government and its allies.
We in the US have a special responsibility in this moment of crisis. As journalist Jonathan K. Cook observed:
The truth is that this moment of catastrophe could never have been reached without western powers indulging, subsidizing, and providing diplomatic cover for Israel’s brutality towards the Palestinian people, decade after decade.
Without such unstinting support, and without a complicit western media refashioning the land thefts by settlers and the oppression by soldiers as some kind of ‘humanitarian crisis’, Israel could never have gotten away with its crimes.
The bombs and bullets used by the Israelis are largely supplied by the US. Annually we give Israel $4 billion in aid. This is increasing exponentially, as ships, planes, bombs, and bullets are pledged to support them now.
This support by the US government has distorted the relationships between the peoples of the Middle East. Without it, Israel would have been forced to negotiate with Palestinian and Arab neighbors. Instead, backed by the military might of the US, it has been able to enact policies that deny the basic humanity of Palestinians and inflict practices that constitute genocide.
We are witnessing what is likely to be a long, bloody, and increasingly escalating conflict. A cease fire and humanitarian aid will not bring peace or justice for the Palestinians. That prospect is a long way off. But it can begin if we in the US recognize our role in this dealing of death.
The US government supports Israel unconditionally because they are a strategic partner in US efforts to secure imperial ambitions that require access to oil. After WWII the US chose to establish a far flung military empire, with over 750 military bases around the globe. For perspective consider that Britain, France and Russia have 30 bases, combined.
This overt military presence has been accompanied by covert operations that have destroyed efforts by people for democratic initiatives. As early as 1953 the CIA was involved in the coup against Mohammad Mossadegh. Mossadegh, the elected Prime Minister of Iran. He had moved to nationalize the Iranian oil industry.
We as Americans have supported these military operations and covert actions because we know they are essential to defend “our way of life.” But the truth is, our way of life can only be maintained at the expense of the lives of others and the health of the planet.
As the inhumanity unfolding around us should make clear, we need to radically change our ways of living, to support the rights of people around the globe to live and find ways to thrive. At a time when the earth’s fragile existence is in question, we can no longer evade the depth of the changes we need. Time is short.