Beneath the Rubble.... Hope...

Nancy O'Brien Simpson

Photo: Designed by Freepik by jplenio1, https://creativecommons.org/public-domain/pdm/

Выбросы углекислого газа

OMG. OMG. OMG. This is incredible.
My son-in-law Steven told me that the martyrdom of the Palestinians in Gaza would be the genesis of change. He was prescient in his prediction. The suffering of the Palestinian people, the images of dead children, the destruction of an entire society, and the obscene complicity of the United States have finally begun to break through the political wall that has protected Israel from accountability for decades.

On Wednesday, 104 members of the House of Representatives—including 103 Democrats and Republican Thomas Massie—voted to cut off the $3.3 billion in annual U.S. military financing to Israel. The amendment failed, with 314 members voting against it, but something happened that would have been almost unthinkable not long ago: nearly half of House Democrats voted to stop sending American tax dollars and weapons to the Israeli military. 

That is not a minor political development. This is finally a crack in the wall. For decades, Israel has enjoyed an almost unquestioned, bipartisan blank check from the United States. But the blank check is finally being questioned. The American people are changing, and some members of Congress are finally beginning, however belatedly, to listen. Why? The amount of money AIPAC lines their pockets with. That's why.

People, this should not be controversial: Israel is not part of the United States. Hello? We are a nation $32 trillion in debt, with Americans struggling to afford housing, food, healthcare, and basic necessities. Yet we continue sending billions of dollars and weapons to a foreign government while our own country is falling apart. What is wrong with us? We spend more on sending arms to Israel to kill people than we do on homeless vets.

And after decades of dispossessing Palestinians of their land, forcing millions into an ever-shrinking Gaza, building illegal settlements across the remaining occupied territory, and now reducing Gaza to rubble while killing and maiming hundreds of thousands of people, we are supposed to keep sending weapons and money without question? We are supposed to pretend this is normal? We are supposed to look away?

No. A thousand times no.

Rep. Greg Casar said that more than 100 House Democrats voting to block billions of dollars in weapons to Netanyahu was “enormous progress” and a victory for peace, security, and justice. Rep. Ilhan Omar said she was proud that members were finally listening to their constituents and choosing their morals. And she is right. This is what political change looks like at the beginning: first a few voices, then dozens, and suddenly the thing that was once considered impossible becomes inevitable.

The vote still failed, and the United States continues to arm Israel. So we can't pretend we have reached the end of this struggle. We haven't. But the political consensus that protected Israel from criticism and accountability for generations is crumbling. The American people are demanding an end to unconditional military support, and the number of elected officials willing to say so publicly is growing.

My son-in-law was right. The suffering and martyrdom of the Palestinian people may indeed become the genesis of change. Their lives should never have had to be sacrificed for the world to finally see what was happening. But perhaps, in the end, their suffering will awaken something powerful enough to change the world.

The wall is cracking. The blank check is ending. And somewhere beneath the rubble of Gaza, history is beginning to turn.