#ceasefire now and immediately and an end to the brutal occupation and existence of apartheid states | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

canichangemyblogname · 1 year ago

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Sen. Duckworth did not have the option to click “I would like a reply,” but her office did reply to my email demanding a ceasefire in Israel-Palestine. I do appreciate receiving a reply.

In contrast to Sen. Durbin’s response, this response actually addressed— albeit briefly— my major concerns, namely humanitarian aid and the loss of life in Gaza. It did not address my foreign policy and statecraft concerns and demands, but I expected that. The only issue I have with this response is the single line, “Israeli air strikes targeting Hamas Commanders and infrastructure.” I have discussed my objection to this rhetoric (namely, it allows Israel to excuse its deliberate targeting of civilians) and I have expressed that even if Hamas has placed its command centers under hospitals and preschools, the ends (Israel destroying Hamas) do not justify the means (carpet bombing civilians and civilian infrastructure). Gratefully, it doesn’t seem this response takes a stance in support of those means.

Duckworth is one of 14 Senators who have called for a “short-term cessation of hostilities” in Gaza.

You can read the email I sent to Sen. Duckworth below the cut. It is very similar to the letter/email I sent Sen. Durbin, but not exact.

I-- like 80+% of democrats-- support an immediate ceasefire in Palestine. I am pleading that you actually listen to your constituents and do something to stop the tragedy.

1.) Immediate Deescalation:

Call for an immediate ceasefire. Not a "humanitarian pause," a ceasefire.

Protect civilians and establish safe zones in the Gaza Strip.

Establish a dedicated humanitarian corridor for aid.

Weapons embargo and sanctions on Israel, now.

2.) Entry of Humanitarian Assistance and Exit of People:

Safe passage of humanitarian aid and medical supplies from Egypt through the Rafah crossing. The international community must be the ones to safeguard this.

Safe, secure, and timely delivery of humanitarian assistance to the affected population inside the Gaza Strip. This aid must include enough food, sanitary supplies, and clean water for 2 million people.

Resume access to water and electricity as well as fuel for medical facilities in the Gaza Strip.

Protect communication with the people, UN & Red Cross aid workers, and the press of Gaza.

Take actual steps to secure the release of hostages, rather than allow them to be bombed. For THREE WEEKS, in addition to being hostages, they, too, have been suffering under the onslaught against Gaza.

Get our fellow Americans out of Gaza.

3.) A one-state solution that ends Israel's apartheid:

Admit that Palestinians live under a one-state reality and Israel is a settler-colonial nation, meaning Israel's existence is intended to replace and displace the native people of the region.

Recognize that Palestine has sovereignty, Palestinians deserve self-determination, and the land is currently under a brutal occupation. Self-determination does not require the violent displacement of people and dispossession of their land.

Abandon the two-state solution, a solution that creates and encourages apartheid. What apartheid originally wanted to achieve-- partitioning separate nation-states based on ethnicity-- is what everybody says is the solution for Israel and Palestine. It is not. Separation cannot lead to the security Israelis need or the rights Palestinians must have.

Merge Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip into one democratic country under a parliamentary government with a truly representative multi-party system: one state, two equal peoples.

Make all Palestinians and Israelis equal citizens of one nation. Palestinians must be granted full political and legal rights and guaranteed equal participation in Israel-Palestine's political, governmental, and economic systems.

Support fundamental constitutional reform in Israel-Palestine that incorporates significant group rights for all groups within the borders of Israel-Palestine. The only way to end violence in a deeply divided nation is a mega-constitutional transformation that codifies civil liberties. This is how we secure the long-term safety and well-being of Israeli Jews and how we achieve security and longevity for the state they live in. This is also how we secure Palestinian civil liberties and protect Palestinian rights and lives.

Abandon support for Zionism and organize the country on secular, pluralistic grounds rather than ethno-religious grounds. Also, acknowledge Zionism's antisemitic origins in the Global North and the underlying antisemitic reasons why gentiles in the US support Zionism (see: Evangelical Christians).

Dismantle Israel's walls and wire that segregate Palestinians from each other and their land, putting an end to Israel's "open-air prison" and legal segregation and allowing freedom of movement for all peoples within the borders of Israel-Palestine.

Stop the forceful eviction of Palestinians from their home and support and encourage the right of return for millions of Palestinian refugees around the world.

Admit that Israel is a failed experiment. The state has critically failed to provide for and protect Jewish people. It has also failed to be a place free of persecution for Jews and Arabs. Netanyahu's government has consistently shown that it does not care about protecting or safeguarding Israeli lives as it threatens to destabilize the region, fails to secure the hostages, and subjects Israelis to devastating security failures.

Admit the "war on terror' has been a failure and that aggressive military strategies and funding have only increased terrorism and extremism around the world. Then, demand the government find new statecraft strategies.

A commitment to the current state of Israel is INCOMPATIBLE with a commitment to the humanitarian needs of the innocent people of Israel-Palestine. According to the WHO, 39 health facilities have been damaged or destroyed since Israel's bombing campaign began. They have struck ambulances and refugee convoys and continue to threaten to bomb hospitals. Israel even struck a children's hospital with white phosphorus. There have been 150+ attacks on healthcare facilities in the West Bank and Gaza. Hospitals are out of medicine and are running low on or out of fuel. They are performing surgeries in the dark, without anesthesia, and are out of clean water.

Israel's indiscriminate bombing has also led to the destruction or critical damage of most of Gaza's sanitization facilities, sewage facilities, and water infrastructure, leaving Gazans without clean water. There is a lack of clean drinking water for 95% of people in Gaza. The 2 million Palestinians in the strip are still without clean water, electricity, or food. Current food stock in Gaza will only be sufficient for four more days. Bakeries and fishing boats have been targeted, and next to NO aid is reaching the enclave.

They have bombed UN schools sheltering women and children. They have attacked refugee camps, churches, and mosques. They have killed 88 UN aid workers, the highest of any conflict, and 36 journalists. Over one million Palestinians have been displaced, over 10,000 have been killed, and over 25,000 have been wounded. Since I last emailed you, that is over 3,000 more dead and over 7,000 more wounded. Two-thirds of victims are women and children. The entire lineage of 50+ Palestinian families have been wiped from existence by the Israeli State.

Israel also continues to cut only civilian communications, meaning ambulances, families, and civil defense teams cannot communicate to locate injured people or people stuck under the rubble amid Israel's bombardment. Excavators have also run out of fuel, meaning people stuck beneath rubble are condemned to die. Most of the civilian residential infrastructure in Gaza has been destroyed or critically damaged by Israel's carpet bombing campaign.

Israel and the Israeli Occupying Forces are causing severe bodily and mental harm to Palestinians throughout Palestine, and they are creating conditions designed to bring about the destruction of Palestinians. This is a textbook case of genocide. And the bombing is only intensifying (Israel has even had a minister advocate for nuking Gaza).

But don't just take my word for it. Listen to Raz Segal, an associate professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University, an endowed professor in the study of modern genocide, and an Israeli historian:

https://jewishcurrents.org/a-textbook-case-of-genocide

https://www.democracynow.org/2023/10/16/raz_segal_textbook_case_of_genocide

https://www.wbez.org/stories/a-genocide-scholars-take-on-whats-happening-in-gaza/f5a5ab19-eb99-44f9-9707-08a85856a4d6?audio-first=true

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/24/israel-gaza-palestinians-holocaust

The Biden Administration and the Democratic party have fundamentally failed to stand for American values of freedom and liberty, domestically and abroad. They also refuse to listen to their constituency due to personal attachments to Israel, rather than an objective outlook on the reality of the situation. And, as a result, the US is complicit in Israel’s war crimes.

I also find it insulting that Blinken and Biden have excused these excessive casualties and even denied they've happened. It has become abundantly clear to US citizens and the international community that the US is wildly ineffective at maintaining international order and controlling rogue states like Israel.

Stop funding genocide and ethnic violence. Not another dime. Not another death.

I also recommend the following resources:

Chomsky, Noam, and Ilan Pappé. On Palestine. Haymarket Books, 2015.

Assad, Dawud. Palestine Rising: How I Survived the 1948 Deir Yasin Massacre. Xlibris Corp, 2010.

Abdo, Nahla, and Nur Masalha, eds. An oral history of the Palestinian Nakba. Zed Books Ltd., 2018.

Said, Edward W. The politics of dispossession: The struggle for Palestinian self-determination, 1969-1994. Vintage, 2012.

Davis, Angela Y. Freedom is a constant struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the foundations of a movement. Haymarket Books, 2016.

Abunimah, Ali. One country: A bold proposal to end the Israeli-Palestinian impasse. Macmillan, 2006.

Pappe, Ilan. Ten myths about Israel. Verso Books, 2017.

Finkelstein, Norman G. Beyond chutzpah: On the misuse of anti-Semitism and the abuse of history. Univ of California Press, 2008.

Roadmap to Apartheid (2012), a documentary on Prime Video or Apple TV (or YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3psMGQE0iW4, for free)

Below, you’ll find the letter/email I sent to all my elected representatives. I only got one response (see: pictures at the end) from Senator Dick Durbin the day before he publicly called for a ceasefire in Palestine. His response is very clearly a stock-response, which is very common in this field. Because his response has little to do with what I discussed in my letter, so much of it amounts to a dismissal of my concerns and requests.

I-- like 80% of democrats-- support an immediate ceasefire in Palestine. I am pleading that you actually listen to your constituents and do something to stop the tragedy. We, the people, have easy demands:

1.) Immediate Deescalation

Call for an immediate ceasefire.

Protection of civilians and establishing safe zones in the Gaza Strip.

2.) Entry of Humanitarian Assistance

Safe passage of humanitarian aid and medical supplies from Egypt through the Rafah crossing. The international community must safeguard this.

Protection of safe, secure, and timely delivery of humanitarian assistance to the affected population inside the Gaza Strip.

Resuming access to water and electricity as well as fuel for medical facilities in the Gaza Strip.

Resuming communication with the people, UN & Red Cross aid workers, and press in Gaza.

3.) A one-state solution that ends Israel's apartheid

Admit that Palestinians live under a one-state reality and Israel is a settler-colonial nation.

Recognize that Palestine has sovereignty, Palestinians deserve self-determination, and the land is currently under occupation.

Merge Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip into one single democratic country under a parliamentary government with a representative multi-party system.

Make all Palestinians and Israelis equal citizens of one nation. Palestinians must be granted full political and legal rights.

Support fundamental constitutional reform in Israel-Palestine that incorporates significant group rights. The only way to end violence in a deeply divided nation is a mega-constitutional transformation.

Abandon support for Zionism and organize the country on secular, pluralistic grounds rather than ethno-religious grounds.

Dismantle Israel's walls, segregating Palestinians from each other and their land, putting an end to Israel's "open-air prison" and segregation

Stop the forceful eviction of Palestinians from their home and support and encourage the right of return for millions of Palestinian refugees around the world.

Admit that Israel is a failed experiment. The state has critically failed to provide for and protect Jewish people. It has also failed to be a place free of persecution.

Admit the "war on terror' has been a failure and that America's aggressive military strategies and funding have increased terrorism and extremism around the world. Then, find new statecraft strategies.

A commitment to Israel is INCOMPATIBLE with a commitment to the humanitarian needs of the innocent people of Gaza. Some 50% of homes have been destroyed or critically damaged by Israel's carpet bombing campaign. Israel's indiscriminate bombing has also led to the destruction or critical damage of most of Gaza's sanitization facilities, sewage facilities, and water infrastructure, leaving Gazans without clean water. One million Palestinians have been displaced, over 7,000 have been killed, and over 18,000 have been wounded. The majority of the victims are women and children (about 50% of the strip are minors). Over 50 entire Palestinian family lineages have been wiped from the Gaza civil registry due to the bombing. The 2 million Palestinians in the strip are still without clean water, electricity, or food. Israel has targeted over 150 medical facilities-- including hospitals, ambulances, and Red Cross & Red Crescent workers-- as well as UN schools, refugee camps, and residential apartment complexes. Hospitals are out of medicine and are running low on fuel. They are performing surgeries in the dark, without anesthesia, and without running water. And now Israel has cut off all communication with the enclave and within the enclave (which means ambulances and civil defense teams will be unable to locate the injured or people stuck under the rubble amid Israel's bombardment). Excavators have also run out of fuel.

Israel and the Israeli Occupying Forces are causing serious bodily and mental harm to Palestinians throughout Palestine, and they are creating conditions designed to bring about the destruction of Palestinians. This is a textbook case of genocide. And the bombing is only intensifying.

https://jewishcurrents.org/a-textbook-case-of-genocide

https://www.democracynow.org/2023/10/16/raz_segal_textbook_case_of_genocide

https://www.wbez.org/stories/a-genocide-scholars-take-on-whats-happening-in-gaza/f5a5ab19-eb99-44f9-9707-08a85856a4d6?audio-first=true

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/24/israel-gaza-palestinians-holocaust

Stop funding genocide. Not another dime. Not another death.

From the river to the sea Palestinians will be free!

I don’t know what’s more insulting. The fact he claims Biden took “swift action” to provide Gazans— who still do not have food, clean water, hygienic products, or medical supplies— with clean water, food, and medical equipment and supplies (hospitals are performing surgeries without anesthesia in the pitch dark). Or the fact that he spent most of his response focusing on the Oct. 7th attack and Hamas. At no point did I mention Hamas. I didn’t contact him about Hamas. Fuck Hamas. Over 9,000 Palestinians are dead. Or… maybe it’s the fact I asked him not to appropriate another dime and his response was essentially, “I did it already and I’ll do it again!”

“No cause or grievance justifies the deliberate killing of innocent civilians.”

Take this logic to its ideological conclusion rather than give me a platitude. If NOTHING justifies killing civilians, then the death of 1,400 Israelis at the hands of Hamas does not justify the carpet bombing massacre of 9,000+ Palestinians. If NOTHING justifies killing civilians, then years of occupation does not justify what Hamas did. Take this platitude shit to its LOGICAL and IDEOLOGICAL conclusion. If NOTHING justifies it, then NOTHING justifies it. But does anyone in our government actually support such a position? No.

How many lives? What is the appropriate ratio of Palestinian to Israeli lives? How many Palestinians until you are satisfied? How many lives???

During the BBC Newshour this morning, a spokesperson for the Israeli State claimed it is a lie that over 9,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered in Israel’s bombing campaign. And then proceeded to claim that— actually— a large chunk of the people who’ve been killed are Hamas terrorists, but that we (the international community) wouldn’t know that because Hamas is controlling all the info out of Gaza. Even info from the likes of the AP, Reuters, Al Jazeera, and the BBC that report massive civilian casualties. Every photo these news outlets release. Every video. Every interview. He indirectly claimed that reporting on the misery in Gaza makes you Hamas-controlled media.

How many lives? The answer is: “as many as they can take.”

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