Evolving Folks Project

On October 7th, 2023, Hamas launched a violent and organized attack on civilians and IDF forces in Israel. Resulting in the deaths of 1,400 Israelis and 200 plus hostages being kidnapped by the organization. This tragic attack has had a violent ripple effect in the Middle East. The right-wing Netanyahu government has inflicted a swift and deadly retaliation on Palestine. For the last two-plus weeks, Gaza has been under heavy bombardment. Unfortunately, the Palestinian people are all paying with their lives for the violent actions of a few. 

The West and the Rest 

You’d think that the United States, Israel’s most important ally and leading weapons supplier, would call for an even-handed approach to bringing those in Hamas responsible for the violence inflicted on Israel on October 7th to justice. Instead, most Western world leaders, including President Biden, have called for more death and destruction on the people of Gaza and the West Bank. A vast portion of the Western corporate media has been promoting lies and propaganda to justify the actions of the Israeli government in bombing Gaza into oblivion. 

Any legitimate critique of the Israeli government’s heavy-handed retaliation has been met with calls of critics being anti-semitic. Even when families of those taken hostage have called for peace and ceasefire, not more violence and bombs. The U.S. and its allies have rejected U.N. calls for a ceasefire in Gaza even after places of healing and respite, like hospitals and churches, have been bombed. Half of the residents in Gaza are children. Many nations have called to end the violence in Gaza, including Norway, South Africa, Brazil, and others. But as we saw in the past, the United States makes tons of money off more war and death. Over the last several weeks, defense industry stocks have been going up. There’s always money to be made off war, and there’s little to no profit in waging peace. It’s a sad state of affairs for humanity, when stock prices are put above the lives of innocent civilians. 

Gaza Under Siege 

As a military veteran, there are rules of engagement and proper escalation of force in combat situations. This ensures that civil casualties are minimal and there’s as little bloodshed as necessary. A right path that the Netanyahu government could have taken is sending in Israeli and U.S. special forces to capture the Hamas agents responsible for the violence on October 7th. A trial by jury would have shown the world that the West is ruled by laws and justice. This is far from the truth. The current bombardment of Gaza shows that Israel isn’t seeking justice but vengeance. 

The violence in this part of the world isn’t new and has a long and tragic history starting post-WWII. The sad thing is that if the Jewish people wanted to return to their religious homeland in the Middle East after the Second World War, the Palestinian people would have been more than welcome to build a community with those fleeing violent persecution in Europe at the start of the last century. This wasn’t the case, and Zionist forces backed by Western Imperial powers violently annexed land from the Palestinians and created a modern-day system of Apartheid. I deep dive into this history on my Question Culture podcast, which you all can listen to here. 

The recent bombing campaign in Gaza has cost thousands of innocent lives. It has traumatized countless civilians and left one of the most heavily policed and surveilenced parts of the world in constant terror. Illegal settlers have used this chaos to encroach on more land in the West Bank. As I stated before, the people of Palestine should not be all turned into martyrs for the actions of a few. The Hamas attack was horrible and unjust. But two wrongs don’t make a right. Unfortunately, if this trend continues, there’ll be more deaths on both sides of this horrible conflict. However, history has shown that the Palestinian people will bear the most carnage. This doesn’t make the people of Israel safe either, as the October 7th attack has shown. There’ll be more bloodshed if the world doesn’t call for a ceasefire and work towards a real solution that ends the apartheid reality for the people of Palestine. Maybe then both Palestinians and Israelis can move towards a sense of true peace. As the journalist Chris Hedges stated, Hamas has learned the language of violence from Israel after over half a century of violent repression of the Palestinian people. 

There will be people who read my words and look for hatred and anti-semitism in my words. I write this not with hate but a longing for peace and justice. I’m not religious, but I still have core beliefs rooted in righteousness. No group is better than another based on ethnicity, religion, creed, gender, sexual orientation, or skin color. We are all human. I’m sure the people of Palestine want the same thing as the people of Israel. The same thing people the world over want. To live in peace and be with their friends and loved ones. 

The World Stands Against Genocide 

The bombing of innocent civilians and the demonization of an entire population are the key ingredients that make ethnic cleansing possible. Over the last few days, I’ve been proud to see regular people worldwide stand for peace and call for a ceasefire. Even if cowardly and warmonger political leaders of the West bang the drums of war. The people have demanded peace. As I said before, even family members of those Israeli citizens taken hostage have called for peace and a ceasefire. I have stated a dozen times in this article that the people of Gaza don’t need to suffer for the actions of a few in Hamas. Warring factions in the past have sat across the table from each other and brokered peace through reconciliation and compromise. It happened in South Africa. It can occur in the Middle East. It requires the people’s will to be stronger than the military-industrial complex. 

How you can support the people of Gaza

People should continue their protests and organizing efforts for peace in Gaza across the globe. I hope folks keep up the pressure as long as innocent lives are at stake. Palestine’s men, women, and children should not be sacrificed for war profiteers. You can attend local peace rallies and write your elected officials to call for peace. You can challenge your friends and family who make sweeping indictments of Jewish or Middle-Eastern people. The horrible actions of the Netanyahu government or Hamas shouldn’t justify hate towards a group of people. We’ve seen the dreadful results when everyday people are driven to violence due to propaganda and demonization of a culture. 

Getting your information from independent news organizations like Democracy Now, Al-Jazeera, and Abby Martin can give you a much more balanced perspective on the events in the Middle East compared to corporate mainstream news sources like CNN, MSNBC, or Fox News. 

You can support mutual aid organizations looking to bring much-needed aid to the people of Gaza. Organizations like: 

Adalah Justice Project 

Grassroots International 

MECA 

MSF

I stand with the people of Palestine, and I stand with peace. 

Solidarity Forever…