From the Editor’s Desk: Ceasefire Now, Free Palestine!

Dear readers,

As an editor, educator, and American citizen I write to you sickened by the Israeli government’s war crimes currently being committed against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. I write with a deep sense of shame that decades removed from the horrors of the 20th century, genocide is still be practiced by governments as a matter of public policy. I write with rage that my government, the government of the United States, is funding this ethnic cleansing. And I write with disgust that so many of my fellow American citizens cannot summon the moral courage to call a genocide a genocide, and demand the American Democratic Party do more to stop the Israeli settler colonialism of the Palestinian peoples’ homes, country, and lives.

Arguing "both sides" have killed in this war ignores that it is Israel, and specifically the settlements, that have led to this current conflict. I think that many Americans have never interrogated our own settler colonial past, never questioned the fact that our nation owes its existence to ethnic cleansing, and as such, it is not surprising that many Americans continue to support Israel uncritically.

The violence, and outrage to violence, and rhetoric around condemning the violence, is highly selective and I am tired of the crocodile tears Americans shed when commenting on behalf of the Israeli government.

There is only one peaceful solution to this conflict. Israel must give up its intents to colonize every inch of its envisioned nation. A cease fire must commence. Israel must not just vacate Gaza but also give back the stolen lands surrounding Gaza and the West Bank. The US needs to divest from Israel, and the US state legislatures and governors need to cease to outlaw the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction movement.

In other words, we need a total reversal of policy of unequivocally supporting the Israeli government, and a new policy of supporting not just Palestine but also putting pressure on the Israeli government to change its racist internal laws. Whether there are two states, or one, there will be no peace as long as Israel continues to operate with the logic of apartheid and genocide.

We have a model of how this could work with how some Americans challenged the apartheid government of South Africa in the late 20th century. Then, too, the US's political leadership (such as Ronald Reagan) argued that the anti-apartheid movement was a terrorist organization.

The US leadership was wrong then. It is wrong now. The best way to end the violence is to oppose the Israeli government and demand they end the settler movement, accept democratic rights for all of their citizens regardless of religion and race, and that the Israeli government be held accountable when it breaks the law.

Anything short of demanding changes to Israeli policies and settler colonialism is not a serious proposition of peace.

As an editor, a press, and writer we at North Meridian condemn in the strongest terms possible the Israeli government’s actions.

Wesley R. Bishop

North Meridian Review

Calhoun County, Alabama