As a health care researcher specializing in traumatic injury, I see hospital patients with burns, amputations, traumatic brain injuries, and spinal cord injuries. Over the last eight months, I have felt so much moral horror and sadness that US bombs, funded by my tax dollars, are dropping on Palestinians and causing these very injuries. More than one thousand children have lost limbs. Fathers have suffered traumatic brain injuries from bombs exploding and buildings collapsing. Mothers have burns over their entire body. It is too much to witness.
I feel powerlessness and cognitive dissonance; while I am at work caring for patients and researching how to prevent traumatic injuries, US tax dollars and weapons are causing those very same traumatic injuries in Palestine. The scale of traumatic injury and disability resulting from US weapons and funds to Israel is overwhelming, alongside the fact that the Israeli military has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians in what the International Criminal Court calls a “plausible” case of genocide.
Many people, including myself, feel powerless to curb the US’s role in facilitating violence in Palestine. We sign petitions. We march in the streets. We block roads. We start encampments on university campuses. We call our senators. Nothing changes. The weapons and money keep flowing.
I assume we’re used to this–political representatives acting in ways we don’t like, or even in ways we deplore. That is not new. However, the next stop doesn’t have to be political apathy. Instead, it is an invitation to build collective power. You can start small. Small actions can accumulate and motivate others; each small individual or group action is us running our section of the relay, passing the baton to the next person or group. Maybe this small action will motivate that next person to join a protest, learn more about the issues, and get active.
That’s why on Saturday, June 1, 2024, I disrupted Vice President Kamala Harris’s Seattle fundraiser by standing up in the middle of the event and asking her, “When will you stop sending weapons to Israel?”
I participated in this disruption for four reasons. First, Vice President Harris is second in command below the President. Wherever she goes, we need to remind her that many US voters are horrified by US weapons and funds facilitating violence in Palestine. Currently, 70% of likely voters support a permanent ceasefire and a de-escalation of violence in Gaza, and the plurality think we should decrease military aid to Israel.
Second, I hoped my question would continue shining a light on the Biden administration’s equivocations about when they will stop sending weapons to Israel. For example, the Israeli military recently dropped US-made, Boeing bombs on a refugee camp in Rafah. The “tent massacre” killed 45 people and injured more than 200. In early May, President Biden said, “If they [Israeli military] go into Rafah, I’m not going to be supplying the weapons.” However, the Biden administration is now backpedaling and claiming that the current invasion into Rafah is a “limited” operation, not an “all-out assault.” I believe the Biden administration is posturing and has no intent of stopping military funds or weapons shipments to Israel.
Third, I wondered if Vice President Harris would say something on the record. Maybe something concrete that would get attention and force more internal conflict or dialogue within the Biden administration. But, alas, as a seasoned politician, she just said, “Thank you, I am speaking now.”
Finally, I knew that disrupting this speech was not on its own going to change Vice President Harris’s views or behavior in relation to the violence in Palestine. But I thought that maybe you would change. Vice President Harris was the main event, and you were the audience. We captured a short video of the disruption, hoping it would get a few thousand views. The Instagram video reached ~224,000 accounts and was viewed ~469,000 times. I was shocked. More importantly, I felt affirmed–that many people saw our action, which means they are thinking about what’s happening in Palestine. Maybe this action was the baton pass that someone else needed.
And to be clear, I am not a seasoned activist. You could do this. You could do this, and we did this (another person participated in the disruption with me) because we did it as a team. Our team spent hours prepping: talking through the plan, assessing risks, studying similar events in other parts of the country, practicing getting booed (because we expected that from other attendees), preparing press releases, preparing jail support in the unlikely event we were arrested, and more. This was not an impulsive solo event. I am emphasizing this because there is a role for everyone. Consider this your invitation. It is only through collective action and organizing that we can build the world we want and stop the violence perpetrated by our elected representatives.
Some voters are concerned that protesting the Biden administration like we did will increase the likelihood of a Trump presidency: younger voters in swing states may be swayed not to vote for Biden, leading to a Trump presidency, which would be worse for US civil rights and for Palestinians. My response: I hear and understand the very real fear of another Trump presidency. I am not naive about that risk, AND we still need to speak out when the current US administration is facilitating unthinkable violence in Palestine, or any country.
Additionally, if the Biden administration loses the 2024 election, it will be because the Democratic party failed to deliver policies and actions that voters wanted. Let’s not blame progressives for the Democratic party’s losses. If the Democratic party can’t win elections, it’s because they’re not doing a good job listening to voters. For instance, the violence in Palestine is not a fringe progressive issue. In the presidential primary, hundreds of thousands of Democrats—including those in key swing states like Michigan—voted “undecided” or “uncommitted” to protest the Biden administration’s perpetuation of the violence in Palestine. These “uncommitted” votes tried to incentivize behavior-change from Biden. Biden didn’t change his behavior. I don’t know how many of those “uncommitted” voters will vote for Biden in the general election. My sense is that some might not if the Biden administration keeps facilitating the violence in Palestine.
But when I took a deep breath and stood up from my seat in the decadent ballroom at Vice President Harris’s fundraiser, I hoped that my action would be one small drop in a growing stream of collective action.
Vice President Harris and President Biden, you could stop the flow of weapons and funds to Israel right now. You have the ultimate lever for ending this genocide in Palestine. Stop the flow of weapons now.
Arin Flaster is a health care researcher focusing on mental health and traumatic injury. Arin has worked in health care research for 10 years and has been involved in research on childhood/adolescent trauma, spinal cord injury, chronic pain, health services, and other long-term health conditions. Arin has lived in Seattle for 10 years.
@53: Of course you fell for it. The question of whether ordinary German citizens supported the mass executions of Jews, homosexuals, etc. has been heavily debated, without finding a clear answer of the type OneTrickPony states. Given that Nazi Germany was a totalitarian one-party state, there’s also the question of whether such popular approval, or lack thereof, would even have mattered.
(And for someone who constantly throws terms like “fascist” around here, you suddenly decided those terms were not needed when talking about actual fascist violence. Most curious…)
The holocaust would have been impossible without the enthusiastic participation of the German public. There have been attempts to whitewash that history and even to deny that the holocaust ever even happened, but the historical evidence is absolutely overwhelming. The Jewish victims have been given pride of place, but there were millions of others, as well, including communists, homosexuals, socialists, the disabled, developmentally delayed, elderly, and other “useless eaters.”
But my point was that just because a majority have been tricked into supporting a genocide by a relentless torrent of spin doctoring, messaging, talking points, press conferences, propaganda, and professional and academic retaliation, that in no way makes it right. Vast majorities of whites and all the mainstream media also hated MLK during his team and literally cheered his assassination, lionizing him only in death from whence he could do more damage to the precious status quo.
@tensora Your struggle to find a proper historical analogy to the current crisis in Gaza arises from your fundamental misunderstanding of what is going on. In your mixed up mind, the lightly armed and loosely organized Gazans are the Nazis, while the Israeli war machine with its jets and tanks and drones with satellite targey
targeting by the good ‘ol USA is somehow the heroic resistance. A much better comparison would be the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, where the Polish Jews were the captive population but resisted by force against the most powerful military in the world.
@55: Assertions made without evidence may be dismissed without evidence. (Also, I’d already mentioned the Nazis killed persons other than Jews.)
@56: On 10/7, Hamas (not “Gazans”) killed over one thousand Israelis with small-arms fire. That’s pretty effective killing. So effective, in fact, it’s multiple times the daily death rate (from both Hamas and the IDF) of the war in Gaza. (And, as you noted, the IDF has far more lethal weapons than did Hamas.)
Hamas killed Jews, for being Jews, on land the killers have declared shall be cleansed of Jews. So the analogy to Nazi mass murder seems pretty apt.
@57: You really need to understand this war is between Hamas and the IDF, with the Gazans used as human shields by Hamas. That’s why the death toll is so high. (https://stratcomcoe.org/cuploads/pfiles/hamas_human_shields.pdf)
@57 no you don’t understand the Jews are always the victims no matter what. Ethnically cleansed by an authoritarian regimes? Victims. Illegally immigrate to a region and start a terror campaign against the locals and the government? Victims. Take over, form an authoritarian regime, and ethically cleanse said locals? Still victims. And anyone who disagrees is an antisemite.
@59, @57, @53:
As already mentioned up-thread, the survey linked by the author of this headline post shows a majority of Americans surveyed do NOT want the US to decrease military aid to Israel.
Watching you guys, as you incessantly talk each other further and further from understanding why that might be, makes for some welcome amusement. Thanks!
Well, a MAJORITY of registered voters want something? Make it so!
Let’s start with cutting military spending, raising taxes on the ultra-wealthy and corporations, pouring money into physical infrastructure, education, health care, student loan forgiveness and child care.
Oh we are not going to do any of that? Correct, because the national political parties care not one wit about public opinion where it concerns those issues. They are only going to do so, incrementally, if forced to do so by mass popular movements. And, as argued above, even when majorities support something, that does not make it right. But you really clinging to that one tightly.
I am really glad you are getting some amusement out of this discussion, but tens of thousands of innocent civilians in Gaza killed, hundreds of thousands injured, and millions displaced, hospitals, schools, markets, mosques, water treatment facilities wantonly destroyed? I do not see the humor.
@61: While your survey results supporting your laundry list seem lacking, it’s worth noting the poll cited by the author of this headline post shows a majority surveyed do NOT want US military aid to Israel reduced. That result arrived after months of IDF-Hamas warfare in Gaza, which comports with the survey results I cited. You can sneer contemptuously at our democracy all you like; what these results are telling you is that nobody has changed their minds, despite stunts like the one described in this post, despite student protests, despite blocking traffic on I-5, etc. What you do with that information is up to you, but more of whatever you’ve been doing would not seem like a valid path to the results you seek.
Tensor doesn’t give a shit about Gazans or Israeli’s, they are a child whose only incentive is to siphon all attention to their narcissistic blathering contrarian screeds which are indefensible propaganda and support of genocide. Engaging is a waste and always a bad faith endeavor. Just a sad and shameful person who can’t get over themselves and their own departure from Seattle.
@63 I actually disagree. Virtually all corporate media and “leaders” in both the Republican and Democratic parties think, talk, and act like tensora with respect to the Israel/Gaza question. I have no opportunity to confront and expose the hypocrisy of the former groups because of their massive power and platform imbalance. But I can do so through their self-appointed (and likely paid) surrogate.
@tensora if you want to find out about the clear majorities of US voters who favor my above “laundry list,” I encourage you to dive in and do the research yourself. You might learn something.
Garb@63: You really should reconsider your decision to return here, at least for awhile. It seems not to help you.
I care enough about the civilians in Gaza to describe why they are dying, and it’s not because Israel engages in genocide, but because Hamas attacks Israel from behind them. Yelling at Israel over “genocide” accomplishes nothing, and yet, you’re still at it. If we want to stop civilians in Gaza from dying, then we have to stop Hamas. How to do that should have been the topic here for the past eight months, but the Stranger just had much better ideas than opposing terrorism, it seems.
“…who can’t get over themselves and their own departure from Seattle.”
I’ll leave that first part to you, but on the last part, well, no:
‘Law enforcement agencies in the region have warned against what Renton police called “staged vehicle collisions,” where a driver rear-ends another vehicle before carjacking.’
(https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/a-seattle-man-was-carjacked-the-attack-ended-up-saving-his-life/)
@BigToughWarriorDood: “But I can do so through their self-appointed (and likely paid) surrogate.”
Yeah, if you think writing the Stranger’s headline posts pays poorly, then you should try this. 😉
Also, you can kindly go do your own research. You just might learn why so many Americans want us to keep supplying military aid for what you wrongly called “genocide.”
The civilians in Gaza are dying because the infrastructure of life (hospitals, sanitation, water, power, food delivery systems) has been deliberately and systematically destroyed by Israel using US-supplied bombs, guided by US Intel, and shielded by US diplomatic efforts from any accountability.
And a larger and larger portion of the US public is looking on in horror as this continues. And the world is turning its back on Israel, one country at a time, despite the efforts of our ruling class and their mindless mouthpieces such as yourself.
@66: You really need to read that report I linked, about Hamas’ use of civilians in Gaza for human shields. Hamas cowers behind not just the civilians themselves, but also cowers behind their infrastructure. All of this is an intentional, per se violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and it explains why so much of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure has been destroyed in the fighting.
“And a larger and larger portion of the US public is looking on in horror as this continues.”
Yes. They’re wondering when folks like yourself will learn how to spell Hamas, let alone learn what that misogynistic, LGBTQ+ hating jihadi terrorist group really wants — and does. They’re disgusted by the eliminationist rhetoric which flowed as freely from elite schools as material from a busted sewer line. And, as this headline poster so witlessly revealed, they want as much — or more! — military aid for Israel.
“And the world is turning its back on Israel, one country at a time,”
Oh, come on, be specific: Russia, China, Iran… you know, every one of your blazing beacons of moral superiority.
@65. I know you would rather not face the truth about yourself, but I’m not going anywhere.
my Gawd
the Kuntiness
it’s Suffocating
relentless reich-
wing pov masquer-
ading as compassion
in support of a genocidal
maniacal far “right” agenda
intent on replacing Palestinians
and to Hell
with their
humanity
it truly Is
a corporate
stooge here
to derail in ser-
vice of an insidi-
ous evil engaging
in circular argument
sabotaging tS
why on Earth was it
grandfathered in?
Well Spain, Ireland, and Norway have recently formally recognized Palestine as a State, which sparked a tremendous fit by Netanyahu. The US would have never previously allowed its European vassals to act so independently, so something has slipped. It is likely public opinion in those countries aghast at the slaughter has become so overwhelming that the leaders had no choice but to do something performative.
Thanks for the invitation but I can guarantee I have read 10x what you have about this conflict. I am wiling to educate you if you care to learn. The idea of Hamas using the civilian population as shields was the early attempt at justification, but that kind of went out the window long ago, as Israel would not and could not produce any evidence of its wild claims.
Also, the “Hamas-using-human-shields” trope does not explain away public statements from Israeli leaders like Yoav Galant. He said something to the effect that they are dealing with human animals and there will be no food, no water, no fuel for Gaza. And then, by golly, they went right ahead and did it. Collective punishment is one of the favored modalities since direct fighting leads to far more Israeli casualties.
Israel only works if is prosperous and can offer a superior material lifestyle and comforts to its emigrees. But now at war with all its neighbors, trade in big trouble, the Israeli economy is going to tank. And the dual-citizen population has already begun to leave, and it is going to turn into a flood.
You did it for no other reason than to make yourself feel better. The adults that let you run the show and refused to ever tell you “no” are the reason why you think you have that much clout in the real world. You don’t. There are things we could protest domestically that would be more impactful and make more sense. The gun advocates keep telling us “no”, when it comes to gun control. Where’s the outrage? It seems like we can’t keep our focus on any one thing.
@65 “what you wrongly called ‘genocide.’”
International experts also call it genocide.
https://www.humanrightsnetwork.org/genocide-in-gaza
but
our resident
grammar nazi
the insidious Voice
or Corporatism Has no
other legs to stand upon
and as for a moral conscience?
money has
its Own Rules
& ‘people’ are
tertiary, at Best.
@71 Your entry was a bit confusing, not sure where it was directed? At the original author, I suppose. And I agree that gun violence is quite a concern. But in terms of sheer mayhem and the need for immediate action, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, to me, is well deserving of the top spot for protest, marches, sit-ins, takeovers, boycotts, divestment, sanctions, and very public denouncements.
bingo,
onetrick
and
severe
condemnation
for genocide-Enablers
presidential
or Otherwise.
@70: “Well Spain, Ireland, and Norway have recently formally recognized Palestine as a State, which sparked a tremendous fit by Netanyahu.”
Well then, it’s a good thing “Israel” is not synonymous with “Netanyahu,” although you’d hardly be the first Slog commenter to make that erroneous equation.
If supporting a two-state solution is your definition of “the world is turning its back on Israel, one country at a time,” then the United States has been doing so since 1948.
“It is likely public opinion in those countries aghast at the slaughter has become so overwhelming…”
Well, you could, y’know, cite recent public opinion polls from those democracies, but as we’ve already seen, in this very thread, that really doesn’t ever seem to do anything to support your claims, now does it?
“… that the leaders had no choice but to do something performative.”
Wait a second! Didn’t you just give the actions of those countries as substantive examples of “the world turning its back on Israel, one country at a time”? Now you describe those actions as mere “performative” sops, by ruling elites, to silence the worthless opinions of their rabbles? Which is it?
“… I have read 10x what you have about this conflict. […] The idea of Hamas using the civilian population as shields was the early attempt at justification, but that kind of went out the window long ago, as Israel would not and could not produce any evidence of its wild claims.”
It appears you have yet to read the NATO report, from many years ago, covering the many years before that, in which Hamas openly used the civilians of Gaza as human shields. I provided a link in this thread; I again suggest you read it.
“He said something to the effect…”
Actual quotes from government officials being as hard to find as public-opinion polls in long-established democracies, apparently.
“Israel only works if is prosperous and can offer a superior material lifestyle and comforts to its emigrees.”
Or so long as Jews face persecution elsewhere in the world. (That should come to an end real soon, right?)
“But now at war with all its neighbors…”
While I’m sure you’ll soon provide dispatches from the Jordan-Israel war zone, in the meanwhile you can educate us on how, to the very best of your knowledge, Israel being at war with neighbors represents a completely unprecedented moment in Israeli history.
“… trade in big trouble, the Israeli economy is going to tank. And the dual-citizen population has already begun to leave, and it is going to turn into a flood.”
Was economic and demographic information on this point difficult for you to find, or did you find it every bit as supportive as the public-opinion survey cited in this headline post? Do tell.
@76 I wholeheartedly agree with you. Jewish is not synonymous with Israel, nor is Israel synonymous with Netanyahu. I am especially proud of those Jews (and there are very many of them) who are renouncing the Israeli government’s slaughter in Gaza publicly and vocally, from the train stations of Manhattan to the world’s college campuses and even to the winner’s podium at the Academy Awards.
Economic data? As you know, good data is usually available for periods of a year or two in the past, and things are changing too fast. Anyway, I have already told you I am not going to waste my time hunting for links. If you would like to explore the truths I am sharing, once again, dive deep and enjoy the journey. But if you want to look into the future of the current racist, vicious, apartheid regime ruling the State of Israel, have a look at South Africa’s experience once the mask was finally off for all the world to see. It was relegated to the dustbin of history, Mandela was freed, Apartheid smashed, and it not because the Western Capitals urged it to be so. Indeed, they propped up the regime for as long as possible, until the tides of history and popular movements forced their hands and then they pretended to be “down” all along.
Not at war with all their neighbors? As most of the major corporate media do, you skipped right over the West Bank on your way to the Jordan River. The UN has reported that 538 Palestinians have been murdered there since October 7th, even though Hamas has no presence there! How curious.
@77: “Economic data? As you know, good data is usually available for periods of a year or two in the past, and things are changing too fast.”
So, your claim wasn’t merely your opinion stated as fact, but your speculative opinion, stated as fact. Thank you for admitting that.
“I have already told you I am not going to waste my time hunting for links.”
There’s a very good reason for that, which you’ve here demonstrated nicely.
“…have a look at South Africa’s experience once the mask was finally off for all the world to see. It was relegated to the dustbin of history, Mandela was freed, Apartheid smashed, and it not because the Western Capitals urged it to be so.”
From Wikipedia:
“The Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986[1] was a law enacted by the United States Congress. The law imposed sanctions against South Africa and stated five preconditions for lifting the sanctions that would essentially end the system of apartheid, which the latter was under at the time. Most of the sanctions were repealed in July 1991, after South Africa took steps towards meeting the preconditions of the act, with the final vestiges of the act being repealed in November 1993.”
[…]
“In 1990 and 1991, South African President F. W. de Klerk made steps towards meeting the preconditions of the Anti-Apartheid Act.[23] In 1991, following de Klerk’s repeal of Apartheid laws and the release of Nelson Mandela and other (though not all) political prisoners, President Bush issued an executive order lifting virtually all bans against doing business with South Africa.[24]”
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Anti-Apartheid_Act#:~:text=The%20act%20was%20initiated%20by,sanctions%20in%20Europe%20and%20Japan.)
Yours is hardly the first analogy I’ve seen between the student activism in the United States, which preceded the end of apartheid, and the recent student activism, which utterly failed to do much of anything at all concerning Israel. Of all the many differences, the United States Congress (meeting in a “Western Capital,” btw) having recently enacted a coherent, workable anti-apartheid law seems to be the largest. Public opinion in the US was already very much in favor of ending apartheid, whereas public opinion now in the US is in favor of not reducing military aid to Israel. The demand for disvestment against apartheid worked with US policy; the recent demands for divestment defied US policy.
“Not at war with all their neighbors? As most of the major corporate media do, you skipped right over the West Bank on your way to the Jordan River.”
Israel shares a long frontier with Jordan, and it is completely possible to cross from Israel into Jordan without touching the West Bank, or even seeing it. As Israel and Jordan are not at war, Israel is therefore not “at war with all of their [sic] neighbors.” That really wasn’t very hard, and it really didn’t help your claim to have valuable knowledge of the region.
Speaking of which:
“The UN has reported that 538 Palestinians have been murdered there since October 7th, even though Hamas has no presence there!”
https://themedialine.org/top-stories/hamas-still-operates-in-the-west-bank-what-is-israel-doing-about-it/
@78 You think that South African Apartheid ended because the US Congress passed a law against it? You sweet summer child.
I think I see the problem–you take official statements and acts from the US government at face value and divorced from all context. Quite an unsophisticated view.
I have never heard of “themedialine.org” so you might want to consider focusing on more reliable sources.
Yes, Israel is not currently at war with Jordan, so the statement I made that Israel is at war with “all its neighbors” was overbroad. You got me. Their are only at war with Hamas, Hezbollah in N. Israel and S. Lebanon, having their shipping attacked by the Houthis of Yemen, exchanging missile strikes with Iran, and launching bombing runs into Syria and Iraq. What a bunch of peaceniks!
But the original point remains–Israel is not a safe place to be right now, and will never be again in its current form. And as more and more of the world cut off diplomatic relations and trade with Israel, it’s going to empty out. The only hope is to radically reimagine the entire project, as was done successfully in South Africa.
@79: As a result of apartheid, South Africa had been banned from the Olympics, and South African passports were refused by some countries. So the end of apartheid came from many sources. You were the one insisting no “Western Capitals” were involved, which was clearly not true.
“…acts from the US government at face value and divorced from all context.”
The context, as the lengthy quote showed, was South Africa dismantling apartheid, after much condemnation and sanctions from “Western Capitals,” to use your phrase. You seem to be the one “divorced from context” here.
‘I have never heard of “themedialine.org” so you might want to consider focusing on more reliable sources.’
This from the commenter who has airily declared he need provide no sources. At all. Priceless!
‘Yes, Israel is not currently at war with Jordan, so the statement I made that Israel is at war with “all its neighbors” was overbroad.‘
Israel isn’t at war with Egypt, either; in fact, both countries have closed their borders with Gaza.
As for the rest, you’ve already admitted you’re stating your unsupported speculation as fact, so who cares?
Thank you for standing up and using your voice in opposition to US war making. I applaud your preparedness in thinking through all possible results. That is our current reality. People speaking out CAN be arrested. People speaking out CAN be fired. People speaking out CAN lose housing, social media platforms, friendships, every form of community imaginable.
Nowadays it takes a ton a courage to risk all of those possibilities to speak truth to the king. You did that, and we take notice of it. Thank you.
@81: “People speaking out CAN be arrested.”
Not even the protesters who blocked an ambulance on I-5 were arrested.
“People speaking out CAN be fired.”
Examples of which might be?
“People speaking out CAN lose housing, social media platforms, friendships, every form of community imaginable.”
Many things “CAN” happen. Have you a single example of anything you mentioned which actually did happen?
“Nowadays it takes a ton a courage to risk all of those possibilities to speak truth to the king.”
If the community withdraws support from someone for speaking in an intentionally rude manner, isn’t that their right as a community, to show disapproval of what the person said or did? What if the community believes that audience members, even if white and high-income, should listen politely and respectfully to a BIPOC woman, especially after she has been elected to high office by her whole country? What if the community decides the term “genocide” should not be tossed around frivolously? What if the community believes a violently misogynistic, anti-LGBTQ, jihadi organization deserves more criticism than the liberal, diverse democracy it had attacked? Why should that community not use its perfectly-legal methods to criticize persons who flagrantly and intentionally violate important community values?