Since Saturday morning, we have watched in terror as we race toward the brink of genocide and a potential regional war.
After an attack by Hamas that killed over 1,200 Israelis, Israel has been indiscriminately bombing the two million people trapped in Gaza, and cut off all food, water, fuel, and electricity. Over 1,500 Palestinians have been killed, including nearly 500 children, with more being killed every hour.
While all this horrific violence may seem far away from West Liberty, its source is right here at home. The U.S. government sends Israel $3.8 billion in military funding every year. Our legislators choose to send taxpayer money that could go to improving our own communities and lives to a government that has been using them to destroy those of Palestinians for the past 75 years- all while failing to protect Israelis.
Now, even after Netenyahu’s officials have openly declared their plan to wipe out Palestinians in Gaza no matter the cost to Israeli lives, President Biden has announced the United States’ full support for the Israeli government and is sending more munitions.
All life is precious, and everyone deserves to live in safety and dignity. We cannot bomb and kill our way to peace. As American taxpayers, we have the power to de-escalate the violence, instead of making it worse.
We must contact our representatives and demand that Congress stop giving more weapons and political cover to Israel, and use its leverage to call for a cease-fire.
Only then can we address the root causes of these atrocities: Israel’s apartheid, and our own government’s complicity in a system that is killing both Palestinians and Israelis.
Ariel Levin
West Liberty
Lynne Sasmazer
Atalissa