The new year marked the 85th day of Israel’s genocidal campaign against the people of Gaza. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 21,320 Gazans have been killed, with another 55,603 people wounded. These numbers do not include the many thousands still trapped under rubble. If that’s not enough, Israel’s blockade of water, food, and fuel and deliberate targeting of bakeries and farmland now threaten the region with famine.
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, over 90 percent of the population in the Gaza Strip (about 2.08 million people) was estimated to face high levels of acute food insecurity, classified in IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse). Among these, over 40 percent of the population (939,000 people) were in Emergency (IPC Phase 4), and over 15 percent (378,000 people) were in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5).
The current conflict has only been an escalation of decades of violence the apartheid state of Israel has inflicted on the Palestinian people. The creation of Israel corresponds with what many Palestinians consider to be the official beginning of the Nakba. Between 1948 and 1949, Zionist forces violently expelled over 700,000 Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and neighboring Arab countries.
In the process of developing the state of Israel, 530 Palestinian villages were destroyed, and 13,000 Palestinians were killed. This, however, would not be the end of the violence. In 1967, Israel placed Gaza and the West Bank under military occupation. Since then, Palestinians living in occupied territory have been subjected to land confiscations, discrimination, arbitrary arrests, and severe restrictions on the freedom of movement. While the Israeli government feigned interest in a “Two State Solution,” they actively undermined any path toward Palestinian self-determination by intentionally fragmenting occupied Palestinian territory through the construction of walls, checkpoints, and illegal settlements.
Conditions further devolved in the Gaza Strip after the withdrawal of IDF troops and the election of Hamas in 2007. While not having a physical presence in the area, Israel maintains control over the Gaza Strip through a permanent blockade of the territory. The resulting isolation cratered the Gazan economy, where the unemployment rate was 46% before the current conflict. Along with the blockade, Israel’s frequent military campaigns in Gaza had not only resulted in the deaths of thousands but also the destruction of vital infrastructure, making the region virtually uninhabitable.
In late December 2008, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead, which resulted in the killing of 1,411 Palestinians and the intentional destruction of factories and agricultural land. Of note was the bulldozing of chicken farms resulting in the killing of 31,000 chickens that once supplied 10% of Gaza’s eggs, the destruction of a sewage lagoon resulting in the outflow of 200,000 cubic meters of raw sewage into neighboring farmland, the destruction of a groundwater treatment plant, and the destruction of 22 of Gaza’s 29 ready-mix concrete factories.
In November 2012, Israel launched Operation Pillar of Defense, which killed 174 Palestinians and destroyed or damaged 97 schools, 15 health institutions, 15 factories, and 192 trade shops. Between July and August 2014, Israel launched Operation Protective Edge, which resulted in the killing of 2,219 Palestinians, most of whom were civilians and of whom 556 were children. These are the conditions that produced the Gaza we see today. A densely populated open-air prison where 97% of the water is not safe to drink, unemployment is in the 50th percentile, and poverty rates are in the 60th percentile. The current destruction of Gaza is only an acceleration of what has been happening in the region for the past 70 years.
Despite all these blatant human rights violations, the U.S. government remained steadfast in its support of its “Unsinkable Aircraft Carrier” and until recently so did the American people. Before October, being openly pro-Palestine made one a pariah. Even the slightest criticism of Israel could result in accusations of antisemitism and result in the loss of a job or career opportunities. Much of this was the result of the constant propaganda that has been force-fed to Americans, portraying the state of Israel as an oasis of liberal democracy in a desert of savage despots and religious zealots.
But in recent years, that façade was beginning to crack, starting with Israel’s response to the Great March of Return. A common talking point spouted by liberal Zionists and their allies is that the violence of Israel is only a response to the initial violence of the Palestinians, and if they wish to be taken seriously, they need to practice nonviolent means of resistance. However, Israel’s response to these peaceful protests was the same as their response to anything the Palestinian people did. Israeli forces killed 217 Palestinians, including 48 children, nine persons with disabilities, four paramedics, and two journalists, while wounding another 19,000. The current devastation of Gaza was the last straw. The façade was shattered, and no amount of propaganda could change that.
Lancaster Takes Action for Palestine
Lancaster PSL held its first rally for Palestine on October 17. At first, we were unsure as to how popular such a rally would be, but we were obligated to speak against what was clearly the beginning of a genocide. To our surprise, over 150 individuals attended our rally to demand a Free Palestine and an end to all U.S. aid for the apartheid regime. The residents of Lancaster made it clear that they would not be complicit in the murder of innocent civilians. During the rally, local organizers of diverse backgrounds took turns to speak on the importance of an immediate ceasefire. One of these speakers was local Palestinian organizer CeCe Sadek,
I moved to America from Palestine during the Israeli war in 2008 on the Palestinian people. So this war was the beginning of the 16-year siege that Israel has had on Palestine that is finally kind of starting to come to light in the media as of late, given the October 7th Al-Aqsa Flood. But rather than showing the Palestinian people are justified in their resistance against the Israeli occupation, they are being blamed for it. I think we’re here today at these protests and all the protests that are happening to shine a light on the other side, on the way that Israel has been retaliating against Palestinians resisting an apartheid occupation. How Israel destroyed homes and cut off power and access to food and water and all the basic human necessities to an entire group of 2 million civilians. Thousands have died in the past few days, and 700 of those being children… This is not a war between Jews and Muslims. The pro-Palestinian movement is not the same as an anti-Semitic movement. These things are two completely separate notions, and to put them together overshadows what is truly happening, which is the murder of thousands of innocent people, and it allows Israel to justify its actions…
Along with Lancaster residents, organizers from Harrisburg also attended, having had a rally of their own the day before that was unfortunately marred by an incident in which a man pointed a gun at a speaker. The nephew had this to say at the Lancaster rally,
Because of the dehumanization, because of the bigotry that exists, he had the audacity to point a gun at my aunt’s head. At that moment… when I saw her young son for a split second think that he may lose his mother, I saw all of Gaza’s children that lost their mothers that lost their fathers that lost their cousins that lost their entire families, and now they live alone and we’re feeling that right now here at the same time.
Before the rally officially started, organizers asked attendees to write their names on their arms. As the rally came to a close, it was explained that parents in Palestine would write the names of their children on their bodies so that, in case of an airstrike, their bodies could be identified.
Seeing the support for Palestine in the city, PSL Lancaster chartered a bus to transport 50 community members to the largest march for Palestine in U.S. history. Over 500,000 people marched on the streets of Washington, D.C., demanding an end to the funding of the apartheid state of Israel.
Lancaster Keeps Up the Pressure
For the next Palestine-related event in Lancaster, PSL organizers wanted to include an educational aspect to the rally, along with a call to action. So on November 9, PSL organized a march for Palestine that included stops at a Starbucks and McDonald’s in the downtown area and ended at the Lancaster Police Station. The purpose of this was to have speakers at each stop explain the importance of boycotting businesses like McDonald’s and Starbucks for their support of Israel and how Israel trains American police, tying the violence of the IDF with police brutality in the United States. One of the speakers was Sydney Page, a member of the local Starbucks union, who the company had recently sued over a message of Palestinian solidarity on social media. Although she was restricted on what she could say because of the ongoing lawsuit, Sydney read aloud the union’s official statement on Palestine,
The members of Starbucks Workers United stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination… We condemn the occupation, displacement, state violence, apartheid, and threats of genocide Palestinians face. Furthermore, we condemn Starbucks for shamefully using this devastating humanitarian crisis to make false statements against our union and to vilify us…
Last year, Starbucks experienced a $12 billion loss in its stock market value. The march ended with a plea to attendees to continue demanding a ceasefire to join local organizations.
No Justice, No Peace, Lancaster keeps fighting
The next march was on November 17, starting in Musser and ending at the downtown fountain with a candlelight vigil. Along the way, stops were made at the front of the Democratic Party headquarters and the PNC bank to have speakers expose both institutions’ complicity in, and support for, Israeli apartheid. The Democratic Party was critiqued for their unwavering support of Israeli’s actions despite 80% of registered Democrats support for calls for a ceasefire. The PNC Bank was exposed for their funding of the war machine as they have invested $1.6 billion in eight nuclear weapon manufacturers. Speaking out against PNC at the rally was co-founder of the Lancaster Peace Action Network, Brad Wolf,
The bombs that are dropped in Gaza right now could not occur were it not for these U.S. weapons manufacturers. Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Atomic, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman all these companies are making billions of dollars off of death and suffering as we speak… I was down at their offices with five others last week. We were arrested in front of Raytheon because we dared to read a list of names of the dead killed in Gaza by Raytheon’s bombs… These are the times we live in. This is what it was like, and this is what we all have to do. We all have to risk something of ourselves; we can’t ask Palestinians to engage in nonviolent action unless we do it…
Brad’s current project is The Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal, which holds U.S. weapons manufacturers Raytheon, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and General Atomics accountable for crimes against humanity through the testimony of witnesses and documentary evidence.
While the march was supposed to end with a candlelight vigil, energy was so high amongst the crowd that the chanting, speeches, and flag waving continued for another hour right across from Lancaster County’s annual charity event, ExtraGive.
Lancaster Brings attention to Unjust Incarceration in Palestine
The final rally for the year was held on November 29 across from the Lancaster County Prison to demand not only a permanent ceasefire but a release of the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners. Around 5,200 Palestinian political prisoners were being held in Israeli jails before October 7. But since the launch of Al-Aqsa Flood, that number has skyrocketed to over 8,000, as the IDF ramped up its terror campaign of kidnapping thousands of Palestinians in overnight army raids across the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Before October 7, the IDF made around 15-20 arrests a day. After October 7, that arrest rate has jumped to 120 a day. Many of these prisoners end up in administrative detention, which means they are held behind bars without charge or even trial, based on “secret evidence” to which neither the prisoner nor their lawyer is permitted to have access. Despite the rally being held well after sunset and in near-freezing weather, dozens of people attended.
Conclusion: Growing Support for Palestinian Liberation
As of writing this article, South Africa, with the backing of Bolivia, Jordan, Turkey, Malaysia, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, presented their case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, accusing Israel of committing genocide against the people of Gaza. At the same time, U.S. and U.K. forces have launched attacks on Houthi targets in the Red Sea.
Until the genocide is stopped, the PSL will continue to hold rallies and other actions. The overwhelming support for a permanent ceasefire in the U.S. is causing internal crisis within the political establishment. As long as Genocide Joe continues to engage in genocide in Gaza, the Democratic Party will be in crisis. After more than 400,000 people marched on Washington on January 13th, it is clear that the determination of the people to stop the siege on Gaza and see a permanent ceasefire is unwavering.
References
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Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal. (2023, November 14). About. https://merchantsofdeath.org/about/
Shakir, O. (2023, March 28). A threshold crossed. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution
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Shakir, O. (2023a, March 28). A threshold crossed. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution
Thaler, S. (2023, December 7). Starbucks loses $12B market cap amid sales concerns, boycotts over Israel. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2023/12/07/business/starbucks-loses-12b-in-market-value-amid-boycotts-over-israel/
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. (2023, December 21). Gaza Strip: Acute food insecurity situation for 24 November – 7 December 2023 and projection for 8 December 2023 – 7 February 2024 : IPC – Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. IPC Portal. https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/details-map/en/c/1156749/?iso3=PSE
United Nations. (2012, August). Gaza in 2020: A liveable place? – report by the UN country team in the opt – question of Palestine. United Nations. https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-195081/
