Israel’s regime of apartheid and military operation over the Palestinian people has been going on for decades. And all these years of captive subjugation of innocent people has been funded by the United States of America.
Since their founding, Israel has received over 250 billion dollars in US military aid.
Known as the ‘the world’s largest open-air prison,’ Gaza is more than a living cage for Palestinians — it is also a “laboratory” for Israeli-American developed surveillance and weapons testing.
Samer Abdelnour writes in “Making a Killing: Israel’s Military-Innovation Ecosystem and the Globalization of Violence,”
Israel’s military-innovation ecosystem entered a new phase of growth after the 2007 blockade and siege of Gaza, a densely populated area where two million Palestinians are held captive in what organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Oxfam commonly refer to as ‘the world’s largest open-air prison’.
This phase of violence subjects Palestinians in Gaza to severe restrictions on imports of essential foodstuffs, fuel and construction materials. It also involves intense surveillance and routine bombardment of residential areas and civilian infrastructure, including destruction and contamination of agricultural lands and livestock.
Israeli attacks have killed thousands of people, children included, maimed tens of thousands, and displaced hundreds of thousands, leaving Palestinians in Gaza to suffer unthinkable levels of malnutrition, trauma, unemployment and hardship.
For Israel, the violence it enacts upon Gaza is extremely profitable; in 2021 Israel’s arms exports reached an all-time high of 11.2 billion USD, with further growth expected via US-brokered weapons-for-peace agreements with regional states like Saudi Arabia.
Not only does Israel exert unimaginable suffering on innocent people, they earn profit from it.
This is why Hamas exists.
“The best recruiter for Hamas is Israel,” Bassem Youssef explained to Piers Morgan during their second head-to-head conversation in the past two weeks.
Many say Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has deliberately empowered ‘Hamas’ for decades and the majority of Israelis blame him for the events of October 7th.
The events of October 7th were a tragedy, and they triggered fear in many Jewish people around the world. Anti-semitism is real and ongoing.
And Israel perpetuates it.
Israel doesn’t represent Jewish people. Israel represents oppression.
The truth is finally emerging. The video above asks great questions while the video below provides important context. I recommend watching both.
There is so much more to unravel, to be sure, but in this landscape where truth is not always a given, let’s stay clear on the facts:
Israel is bombing Palestinians to death and our governments are, at best, shrugging their shoulders and, at worst, sending money to bolster Israel.
I know that unlearning can be painful and there are a lot of triggered people around but, please, we need to focus on reducing the harm. We must rally together and do everything in our power to help the Palestinian people.
What can you do?
Contact your government reps (email, call, in-person) and demand a ceasefire
Join “Free Palestine” marches and rallies
Organize a vigil in your community
Donate to Gaza Emergency Funds
Learn about political alternatives like Marianne Williamson
Take responsibility for your personal pain and don’t turn away from the discomfort
Keep learning, keep listening, keep watching
Stay oriented towards unity, soften, deepen, reach out and hold each other close
“Israeli soldiers come and they take your children and you don’t know when you’re going to see them again.”
Not to mention the oil and gas contracts they just handed out and the canal they want to build through Gaza that will rival the Suez.
Do you think the recent developments, especially dem voters' disillusionment with Biden, will bolster Marianne Williamson's chances at the polls? Also, I was talking to a friend last night and she was contrasting US aid to Israel with the pittance we tossed Maui's way after the wildfires. It's absolutely insane how our government can't be seen/caught 'giving' anything away to its own citizens, that our 'values' somehow boil down to that no matter what happens, you better earn everything that you have on American soil. So disgusting.