Don't Stay Silent
The onslaught of heartbreaking appalling news from Israel/Palestine is unrelenting. It would be easier to look away from the images of the dead, desperate, hungry, and sick. Silence might avoid the pain and potential conflict with family, friends, and strangers. But, I can't. I won't. I shouldn't. I hope others won't be silent either. Speaking out is the only path to peace and justice. That is the only way to hold on to our humanity. We must not lose sight of the reality that the suffering of those living through violence is unimaginably worse than for those of us watching from a distance. Silence never undermines injustice and inhumanity.
All over the world, people are taking to the streets. It can't be said often enough: The critique of Israeli policies and actions is not anti-Jewish. The critique of Hamas is not anti-Palestinian. The attempts to conflate those are an effort to shut up critics that is at best willfully biased tunnel vision and, at worst purposefully anti-democratic suppression of dissent. It needs to be said again and again: Conflating Jewishness with Zionism and Israel’s war crimes and long-standing denial of Palestinian rights and Hamas’s terrorism with all Palestinians is exacerbating antisemitism and Islamophobia, making everyone less safe.
Israeli siege of the Al-Shifa hospital complex in Gaza may reveal whether there are Hamas tunnels beneath a place of refuge and medical care. Or amidst self-serving misinformation, we may never know. Does it matter? If following international rules of war designed to protect innocent civilians matters, I don't think so.
As I’ve written here, I refuse to side with either the brutal terrorism of Hamas or the Israeli revenge response. More than one commentator demanded that I respond to, "So what was Israel supposed to do after the October 7 massacre?”
I replied that unless we recognize the history that abetted receptivity to Hamas’s terrorism or religious extremism, no solution that respects the humanity and rights of Israelis or Palestinians is possible. The current military effort to “eliminate” Hamas is more likely to increase terrorism by creating more receptive desperate people. A rejection of both Hamas and Netanyahu by people living there is a precondition to peace and justice. That will take a lot of work and a long time. The only reasonable answer for what the Netanyahu regime should do in response to the terrible Hamas attack of October 7 is that he and his government should resign.
In the meantime, the United States can and should take decisive steps. First, if Biden and Congress want a just solution and peace, it must withhold further military aid to Israel and demand a ceasefire. It is up to Israel and Hamas to determine the conditions. Second, since a call for a ceasefire is insufficiently persuasive, the U.S. must use its only real leverage to demand that our long-term alliance with Israel is conditional on ending its illegal West Bank settlement expansion and attacks on innocent Palestinians and then withdrawal to pre-1967 borders. Repeated statements about U.S. support for a two-state solution are mere plentitudes as long as military aid to Israel continues.
Moral considerations fall short to convince either Republicans or Democrats. Republicans and their hardcore supporters have no morality other than enhancing their own power. Democrats need to be persuaded that unconditional support for the current Israeli government courts electoral disaster. By any measure, the 2024 presidential and congressional elections will be decided by razor-thin margins. Evidence is mounting that sufficient potential voters will stay at home rather than vote for Democrats who support this war to enable the GOP victory that will overturn democracy. Without question, the alternative to Democratic victory is fascism.
Speak up while we still can.
Arthur taught and led science professional learning and curriculum and assessment development projects for 50 yrs. He writes about education and social justice. He loves spending time with friends and family, hiking, and gardening.
Follow him:
X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/arthurcamins
Substack: