It has been roughly one year since Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist organization, attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and killed roughly 1,200 people as well as taking several hundred people hostage, some of whom are still held by Hamas. In response to the attack, Israel launched an immediate military assault against Gaza, the West Bank and allies of Hamas. Israel has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians in its retaliatory assault so far.
A year removed from Oct. 7, we have seen the United States increase its shipments of weapons and military equipment to Israel as well as both presidential candidates, former president Donald Trump and current vice-president Kamala Harris, say they not only support Israel’s military assault but will continue to fund it. The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor estimated that approximately 70,000 tons of bombs were dropped on Gaza, covering the six-month period between Oct. 7 and Apr. 24, 2024.
This opinion is blunt and direct: we, the United States of America, are immoral and depraved in supporting Israel’s military assault, which has now turned into a systematic erasure and genocide of the Palestinian people and culture.
Israel has poisoned the water and ground of Gaza to prevent Palestinians from securing food. They have bombed hospitals and schools, falsely claiming they house terrorist cells. They have killed international aid workers and leveled entire cities, cities that hold a rich history of Jewish, Christian and Islamic architecture.
Israel is attempting to erase Gaza and take the land as their own after the people are killed. This erasure effort has now spread into the West Bank with Israeli soldiers now entering the region despite the West Bank holding zero Hamas operatives.
Despite a clear, blatant regard for human dignity or respect, the United States stands firm in its commitment to providing Israel with a treasure trove of weapons to use on innocent people. I can guarantee you that of the total population of Gaza, 41,000 Palestinians are not members of Hamas. What Israel is doing is collective punishment and our government is throwing their hands in the air like they do not influence what Israel is doing.
Saying the issue is “complicated” or that it is “both sides” is a disservice to the thousands who are actively dying with no promise of international aid. If we are a moral country that values human lives, we would stand against Israel and its excessive and destructive bombardment of Palestinian people.
We would no longer send them weapons and we would ask for a diplomatic solution to the issue, asking Israel to end their apartheid treatment of Palestinians lest they face further economic and military sanctions. However, we have failed to take this course of action and fail to right the ship now. I can only pray that our government opens its eyes and gains consciousness soon, lest they be remembered as enablers of one of the greatest human genocides in recorded history.
