Thank you, Faisal Khan, for your tireless and courageous work on behalf of Palestinians. Weeping. Everyday I weep for these horrors, this extreme inhumanity, this genocide and annihilation of the whole of the Palestinian people that continues unabated. And now the Republicans and all but 14 Democrats just voted to send 8.8 billion dollars more to Israel. This is insane! And somehow we Americans must wake up and stop this madness, this genocide that is happening here now today and in our names. — Molly
A Tribute to the Children of Palestine
To the people of the United States, to world leaders, and to all who claim to value human rights and justice
A Palestinian child in Gaza is killed every 45 minutes.
For the past 535 days, at least 30 Palestinian children have been killed every single day. Gaza faces largest orphan crisis in modern history. At least 39,384 children have lost one or both parents in Gaza. That is a massacre of innocence, repeated over and over again, with the world watching in silence. The official death toll has surpassed 66,000 Palestinian civilians, with 20,000 of them children. 207 UN aid workers—who risked their lives to deliver food and medical care—are dead. 171 journalists—who tried to expose the truth—have been murdered by Israel.
These are not just numbers. These are children who had names, who played, who laughed, who held onto their parents, who went to sleep with their teddy bears and dolls at night dreaming of a tomorrow they would never see.
Their bodies lie under rubble, torn apart by bombs stamped “Made in the USA.” Some are found with gunshots to their heads and chests. Others die in hospitals with no anesthesia, their small bodies unable to endure the pain of amputations forced by Israel’s deliberate targeting of medical infrastructure. And yet, the world does nothing.
Earlier today, only 14 U.S. senators voted to stop the sale of $20 billion in weapons to Israel. Only 14. The rest—Republicans and Democrats alike—voted yes. They voted to send more bombs, more bullets, more death. They voted to continue the slaughter of Palestinian children.
But let’s not pretend this is only about the U.S. government. For over a year and a half, this genocide has unfolded in full view. We have seen the images. We have heard the cries. We have witnessed the destruction. Yet the majority of Americans remain silent. They look away. They turn off the news. They say, “It’s complicated.” They say, “Both sides.”
But let’s be honest: God forbid if these were western or white children, the world would have burned in outrage. Sanctions would have been imposed overnight. Embassies would have issued condemnation. Leaders would have joined elbows to elbows marching in solidarity in Western capitals. But these are Palestinian children. They are brown, Muslim, Arab. And to the Western world, their lives do not matter.
Make no mistake—this silence is deliberate. American media has shielded the public from the full horror of this genocide. They do not show the bodies of the children. They do not show the fathers collapsing over the corpses of their babies. They do not show the mothers carrying the limbs of their children. Instead, they distort the truth. They call it a “conflict.” They call it a “war.” They justify mass murder. They erase Palestinian humanity.
And when people do speak out—when students, activists, and journalists demand justice—they are silenced. They are fired from their jobs. They are arrested. They are blacklisted.
American politicians who take millions from pro-Israel lobbyists are celebrated. Cory Booker gave a 25-hour speech and was praised as a hero, even as he took over $1 million from AIPAC. He even stood for a smiling photo with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant—an accused war criminal.
America is a country where defending genocide and ethnic cleansing is normalized, and opposing it is criminalized. This is not just an American crime. The entire world is guilty. Hungary, Germany, the US and other European nations welcome Netanyahu and Gallant—even though they are wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court. Arab and Muslim leaders—spineless, coward and complicit—have done nothing but issue hollow statements after hollow statements. They have not only betrayed their own faith but the essense of humanity that is the cornerstone of Islam. The world has abandoned Palestine.
This is not a political issue. This is the systemic extermination of an entire people. This is white supremacy, settler colonialism, and ethnic cleansing—broadcast live for the world to see. And yet, most of you do nothing. What Will You Tell Your Children? What will you say when your children ask where you stood during the genocide of Palestinians?
Will you say you were too busy? That you didn’t know? That it wasn’t your problem You knew. You saw. And you chose silence. Do not pretend this is complicated. Do not pretend you lacked the information. If you have not spoken up by now, it is not because you didn’t know. It is because you didn’t care.
The 14 Senators Who Voted to Block the U.S. Arms Sale to Israel
• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
• Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
• Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN)
• Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI)
• Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
• Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA)
• Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT)
• Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT)
• Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA)
• Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM)
• Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
• Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)
• Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM)
• Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ)
Senator John Hickenlooper (D-Col.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I) — all up for reelection next year — voted "no."
This is a time for moral clarity. If you are not outraged, you are not paying attention. And if you are silent, you are on the wrong side of history. If you have remained silent, you are complicit. History will remember. Palestine will remember. Palestine will be free. But your silence will never be forgotten.
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