In 1948, Zionist militants from Central Europe went village-to-village in Palestine to systematically expel the indigenous people from their homes. These militants killed and raped to steal Palestinian land in order to build the new state of Israel. They would round families of village leaders, line them up, and summarily execute them by firing squad. They would then tell the rest of the villagers to leave or be killed. Their atrocities include actually throwing babies in ovens as well killing pregnant women to take bets on if the fetus was a boy or girl.
This was known as the Nakba, or the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. It resulted in the deaths of 15,000 civilians and created 750,000 refugees displaced into what is now known as the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Watch the documentary "Tantura" or read Ilan Pappe's book "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine" to get first hand accounts of what happened, including statements by Israeli soldiers themselves about what they did. The movie "Farha" on Netfllix recounts what happened to one family.
The Nakba was hidden from history through a coordinated Israeli effort to cover up their crimes as well as to paint the Palestinians as the aggressors. But the Palestinians never forgot. They've been fighting for their rights and freedom ever since.
Now it’s 2024. In an age of social media and cell-phone cameras everywhere, Israel decided it was a bright idea to commit their genocidal crimes again, already killing 40,000 men, women, the elderly, children, babies in just 5 months, in addition to the 60,000+ people that are injured. And Israel is actively committing atrocities, such as luring hungry Palestinians to food aid trucks and massacring them, as well as systematic rape and torture of Palestinian women, children, humanitarian aid workers, and journalists. They disallow journalists and human rights organizations from entering Gaza in order to eliminate any third-party witnesses to their crimes. The only remaining witnesses are the Palestinian victims themselves.
And all of this is funded by the US government.
A ceasefire is the bare minimum, but we need a longer-term solution that ensures peace. Let’s at least defund the Israeli war machine. Let's ensure the right-of-return of refugees to a new single disarmed multi-ethnic state. A single-state solution is the ultimate goal.
The state of Israel must not be allowed to continue to exist anymore. It's a criminal enterprise founded on theft and murder of innocent Palestinian people. And then they cry when organizations like Hamas are formed to resist the violent occupation by Israel.
So let’s stop them this time. I am running for Congress to do exactly that.