Palestinians are relying on you

Dear friends,

During an interview for a podcast today, one of the interviewers asked us what we meant by “communities” when we ask people to advocate for Palestine in their own communities. With the situation becoming increasingly dire in Gaza and throughout Palestine, we’ve made these calls alongside others and given some examples of ways folks can take action — organizing strikes, joining protests, donating to Palestinians in Gaza, adopting campaigns, and much more. But the interviewer wanted to know what we think constitutes “communities” in which people can take action.

I was struck by this question, whose answer I have long taken for granted — wrongly. I know that oftentimes, calls for folks to take action in solidarity with Palestine can feel overwhelming, especially for those of us who aren’t based in big cities with pre-existing solidarity organizations. But to me, organizing in one’s community can mean anything from adopting a campaign and asking your family, friends, and neighbors to help support it to pushing legal campaigns like Defund Racism at the state level. Folks can mobilize wherever they can make connections and find goodwill — in their churches, mosques, and synagogues, in their place of work, in their town halls, at local universities, in the local legislature, and statewide.

I thought I would start with this, because especially as things get worse, we can be left to dwell in feelings of existential dread and helplessness when action is really needed now more than ever. Everybody can do something.

In Gaza and across the West Bank, the situation continues to deteriorate. Despite proclamations beginning Sunday night that Israel would allow trucks carrying humanitarian aid to finally enter Gaza beginning Monday morning, only five aid trucks have reportedly entered the Strip. This comes after about 80 days of total siege on the more than 2 million residents of Gaza, whom Israel has denied access to food, clean water, shelter, basic medical care, and medical supplies. The Government Media Office in Gaza made a press statement, estimating that a daily minimum of 500 trucks filled with aid and 50 trucks of fuel are urgently needed in order to save the lives of 2.4 million Palestinians in Gaza. Already, 26 people have died in the last 24 hours due to imposed starvation and a lack of medicine.

On the same night that Israel announced that aid trucks would be allowed into Gaza, its forces began besieging the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, with no warning or evacuation orders. This was the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza. Occupation forces targeted the hospital’s generators as well as fuel storage tanks, disrupting all electricity to the facility. They also fired into the hospital and at patients and staff attempting to leave the facility, and reportedly killed a number of people as they tried to leave the hospital. There are now no hospitals functioning in northern Gaza, leaving wounded and ill people to suffer without safe treatment.

Israel forces continue this pattern of targeting hospitals by using drones and artillery to fire on Kamal Adwan Hospital. Patients who were transferred to Kamal Adwan from the Indonesian Hospital had to be transferred again. Israeli forces reportedly fired on ambulances transferring patients from Kamal Adwan Hospital.

In hospitals, in shelters, and across the Gaza Strip, the situation is only getting worse. We must continue to organize for an end to this genocide. According to the UN’s reports, some 14,000 infants are at immediate risk of death due to the US-Israeli imposed famine on Gaza. This is an entirely preventable act of mass murder. Whether it is taking to the streets with your friends and family to block evening traffic, or organizing a strike in your community, please find some method of getting in the way.

Finally, GSC functions solely on the support of our friends and community around the world. We are able to continue our work because of folks like you, who pledge $5, $15, or $20 a month in order to sustain our efforts. Whether it is a one-time donation, or a commitment to a few dollars a month, please consider contributing to our work.

Until liberation and return,

Lara Kilani

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