Category: Pondering Peace
Speaking Out for Gaza’s Children
Last week was an exciting one for our two little grandchildren. Our 5-year-old grandson started kindergarten, and our 3-year-old granddaughter began all day preschool for three days a week. They were cute and excited as they ate their breakfast and got ready to leave, all set with their little backpacks and specially chosen clothes. Parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles were excited too and hopeful it would go well for them. Teachers in tidy buildings with classrooms well-stocked with learning materials and toys welcomed them. As little Evie walked down the hallway of her new preschool she said enthusiastically, “This is going to be great!”
I find it jarring to live in a world where other children experience such a radically different reality. These days I am especially thinking about the children of Gaza. For 22 months they have been living in the midst of war. 95% of schools have been heavily damaged, so they have no school to go to. Instead they are engaged in a daily effort to survive, some spending hours waiting in line to get water, and others doing what they can to find food for their families, even picking through the dusty ground for little bits of lentil or pasta that may have fallen there. In Gaza nearly one in three people are going days without food, so many children eat at most one meager meal a day. All children under five years are at risk of acute malnutrition, some dying each day of starvation in the midst of this man-made famine. Each one of these children are precious to our loving God.
Since the war began, 18,000 Palestinians under the age of 18 have been killed in military operations, two-thirds of which were 12 or younger. Many have been injured and had to endure amputations. Over 40,000 have lost one or both parents, with over 61,000 Palestinians having been killed in Gaza during the last two years. One UNICEF worker said, “Normal markers of childhood are gone, replaced by hunger, fear and all-consuming trauma.”
Poverty and war affect many children throughout the world, but I’m especially heartbroken and at times outraged by the situation in Gaza because we as Americans are complicit in the suffering, and yet it is easy to feel powerless to change things. It is primarily American bombs and weapons paid for by our taxpayer dollars that have been used to perpetrate devastation and death on Gazans. Both Democratic and Republican presidents and congressional leaders have stalwartly supported Israel, overlooking the excessive civilian deaths, and repeatedly articulating that Israel has a right to defend itself and the United State will remain a solid ally.
But is there no limit to loyalty as an ally? Not even when children are being massacred and starved to death and families are trapped in this war zone with no escape? Should not the United States use the full extent of its power by refusing to provide any more offensive weapons? Why are our presidents and congressional members not doing this, instead of passively allowing the Israeli government to continue this campaign of killing and agreeing to supply the weapons to do it?
I realize there is a significant effort today to target those who dare to speak out regarding these realities. Protesting US support of Israel in this war and calling for a free Palestine are being framed as antisemitic. Students with legal visas who have used freedom of speech to protest have been detained with threats of deportation, and educational institutions that have allowed this free speech have been targeted and penalized by this Administration. However, it is not hard to see that this is less about concern for Jewish people and more about this Administration using the charge of antisemitism to target those who oppose it and to consolidate its own power.
Clearly, Jewish students or persons should not be blamed or harassed for the actions of the Israeli government; that is antisemitic. But criticizing the policies of the Israeli government should not be seen as expressing antisemitism. These policies are continuing and enlarging the war in Gaza while making the entry of humanitarian aid very difficult. Nearly 1400 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food at the four GHF approved distribution points, most of them shot by Israeli soldiers. Many Jewish people in the United States, in Israel, and around the world are expressing opposition to these policies and calling for a ceasefire and end to this war.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism is often cited as authoritative and adopted by many organizations. It reads, “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” Among the examples of antisemitism given is “targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity” and “holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.” Yet it also states that “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”
The Scriptures record the prophets critiquing in the strongest terms violence and oppression against the vulnerable, whether by Israel’s king or by a foreign power. People of faith need to similarly raise their voices on behalf of those who are powerless in Gaza. Especially this is true for those of us who are privileged to be American citizens and work for churches and organizations that are not receiving federal funding. Of course, we must be very careful not to express ourselves in ways that are antisemitic. We must certainly assert that Hamas’s terrorist massacre and taking of hostages are to be condemned. But Hamas’s control of Gaza does not give free reign for Israel to engage in collective punishment and totally destroy the Gazan people who are under Hamas’s control. Hamas’s building tunnels under infrastructure and using the Gazan people as human shields does not give Israeli soldiers the right to kill all those people. The withholding of food and water to a civilian population to gain leverage in war should never occur. What has and is happening in Gaza is morally reprehensible, and people of faith need to speak out.
But how? It is easy to feel like a lonely voice, so it’s best we join a community that is concerned about this, both for solidarity and wisdom, and for safety and impact. I am happy to see in my American Baptist denomination the ABC Palestine Justice Network rising up and providing education and calls for action. Probably other denominations have similar opportunities. Although it may be hard to feel we are being heard, we need to be raising our voices to our congressional members and asking them to demand a ceasefire, to withhold weapons, and to provide humanitarian aid. H.R.3565, the Block the Bombs Act, has been introduced in the House, and our representatives and senators need to know we support it. The Block the Bombs to Israel website and 5 calls website make that quite easy to do this. The American Friends Service Committee also has weekly updates on Gaza and opportunities for action.
I know that it is hard to read the news coming out of Gaza each day. It is hard to see the pictures of children suffering pain, grieving, and desperate for food. It is easy to think that there is nothing we can do about something so disturbing so it’s better not to think about it. But we must not look away and try to forget what is happening. We must keep working for justice and peace for the Palestinian people in Gaza. Especially this is true for those of us who are Americans who unwillingly are complicit in this suffering but also have some possibility of influencing our government to take actions that can make a difference.
Rev. Ruth Rosell, Ph.D.
Director of the Buttry Center for Peace and Nonviolence
Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology Emerita
Central Seminary, Overland Park, KS