Friends,

If we cannot unite in this and act immediately, then we all must wonder if there is any hope for humanity and a civilized world.  I speak, of course, about the unspeakable horror of the millions of people starving to death in Gaza simply because Israel will not open border entry points to allow truckloads of food to come rushing in.

This existential crisis is distinctly unlike many intractable problems, which require complex considerations and agreements for a solution and then long time frames to bring to fruition.  The solution here is direct, immediate, easily triggered, and obvious.  Humanitarian relief agencies report that the food, the trucks, and the personnel are ready!

Let us not be distracted by a deceptive deflection that might try to characterize a simple call to open border points to food as antisemitism. This is humanism.

Let us also not indulge in fantasies, or allow others to do so, that dismiss claims of Gaza starvation as fake news, as the Israeli prime minister maintains.  The witnesses are many: humanitarian and relief groups, on-the-ground media, medical and health workers, factfinders from the United Nations.  They are our prophets, calling us to act and pointing out the obvious that we try to avoid seeing – the excruciating pain of constant, deep hunger; the hollowed-out eye sockets and the protruding ribs and bones of those withering away; the wailing newborns and young innocent children dying in the tender loving arms of their mothers whose breasts cannot even produce life-sustaining milk for their babes due to malnutrition.

Last week in this newsletter, we included a link to a powerful TV news interview with an Israeli American Holocaust scholar who along with many other experts has come to the conclusion that there is no word to describe Israel’s conduct other than genocide.  Think about that – America, the home of the free and the brave and the forever hope and beacon of so many who are downtrodden and discarded now has a close ally committing the ultimate crime against humanity.

This week, I ask you to listen to this 6-minute interview with the head of the International Rescue Committee and a former Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom about starvation in Gaza.  What penetrates is how easily it can be stopped and how fast reversal can begin.

Our readers and followers repeatedly ask, “what can we do?”  It, too, is simple.  Demand that our leaders – your Democrat or Republican or Independent US House Representative and Senators howl in protest and exert maximum pressure on Israel, our ally and a country heavily dependent on American largesse, to immediately open the Gaza entry points to food relief.  Incredibly in this time of extreme political polarization, we see signs in our cratered political landscape that our noblest instincts of compassion and care for those least able to fend for themselves may be re-emerging.  Leaders seem willing to look at the evidence, to rethink past positions, to become a giving nation again, and to stand up for each other rather than tear down.

This is by no means a foregone conclusion, however.  To seal the deal, we, the people who strive to build a more just world, must act by immediately calling our elected officials to ensure the momentum is not lost and our brothers and sisters in Gaza are spared.   Then we will know there is still hope for humanity – all of us together.

Tom Dwyer
President & Executive Director,
A Faith That Does Justice

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