We Need to Shut Down the War Machine
We Need to Shut Down the War Machine
Mass movement, bold action, and halting genocide
Israel has obliterated the communications infrastructure of Gaza. Their bombs have taken out the ability of the world to reach Gaza by internet and phone, and Gaza’s ability to reach the world. According to the Washington Post everything but satellite communications is out, indefinitely. And according to countless Palestinians and others trying to reach family and friends under siege and under what is being described as the worst bombardment since October 7th, they are hearing nothing. The genocide and ethnic cleansing that Israel has made no secret of waging is being escalated in the dark.
The United States and the European Union have not just ignored the brutal and relentless Israeli attack on the caged millions in Gaza, they have aided and abetted it. The Senate just passed a resolution condemning students for refusing to be compliant with Israel’s actions, unanimously. Biden just questioned the veracity of the death count coming from the historically accurate and trusted Health Ministry of Gaza – trusted even by the State Department up until 2 days ago. We send arms and billions to a country and a military that is killing thousands and thousands of civilians as we speak, and we do nothing to rein them in. As the Post said minutes ago, “Although the United States has considerable leverage over Israel as its largest military, political and economic backer, U.S. officials have not threatened to withdraw support or impose any consequences on the Jewish state if it forges ahead with its own plans.”
That is a green light. A big, crystal-clear green light to march forward with unspeakable atrocities. We’ve seen the scale of the bombing and death before the communications blackout, and it’s hard to conceive of what could be worse than that. But now, with the eyes of the world practically unable to see what happens in Gaza, and with ground forces “expanding their activity” it appears that the worst still lies ahead. And so we are called to act. We are called to go beyond the mass protests that have taken over the streets of this country and cities around the world. We are called to go beyond sitting in Senate offices. We must do more. It’s time to shut down the war machine.
In Australia, England, and the U.S. people have already begun to ramp up a campaign to halt the supply chain that feeds the Israeli military its weapons of death. Palestine Action has shut down arms factories in Britain. They’ve also taken their campaign to the financiers of war. In Virginia, Appalachians Against Pipelines also targeted Elbit Systems today, the main company that protesters have worked to shut down in the UK. In Boston, the US branch of Palestine Action has also gone after the company, attempting to stop them from recruiting and to halt business as usual at their offices. This is, and must be, just the start of a larger mass movement to stop the tools of death from reaching Gaza.
It is time for the thousands and thousands of people marching in New York and D.C. and LA and everywhere to move from protest to direct action. If our leaders are refusing to stop a genocide, are even preemptively denying a genocide, it falls on our shoulders to halt the atrocity. So many of the companies gleefully talking about how the latest “geopolitical conflict” is a profit opportunity for them are based in the U.S. From Raytheon to General Dynamics to Teledyne and beyond, the military-industrial complex knows that it stands to profit massively from what Israel is doing, and from a broader conflict should it spread. So we must shut them down. And we must force our politicians to act. The scale of the atrocity happening behind the blanket of darkness in Gaza right now demands mass radical action, nothing less.
The seeds have already been planted, people are already starting to act, but this moment requires more of us. It both requires more people, in sheer numbers, and it requires more sacrifice. Thousands have already gotten arrested protesting for Palestine and for peace, but we need more. We need to chain ourselves to buildings, we need to shut down business as usual, we need to take risks. We need a movement massive enough and brave enough to force the issue. So get involved with organizations taking bold action. Recruit your friends. Refuse to back down. Countless lives depend on it. As the Jewish movement for a free Palestine says, “Never Again means Never Again for anyone.” That conviction must guide us to halt the war machine and do everything we can to stop this massacre.
SupportPalestine Action: https://www.palestineaction.org/
Dissenters against the War Machine: https://wearedissenters.org/
Apply pressure for a ceasefire now: https://ceasefiretoday.com/
Take action with Jewish Voice for Peace: https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/
Take action with the Palestinian Youth Movement: https://palestinianyouthmovement.com/
Take action with IfNotNow: https://www.ifnotnowmovement.org/
Support Boycots, Divestmest, and Sanctions: https://bdsmovement.net/
Find a protest to attend: https://www.gazaispalestine.com/protest