• Both in Israel and the US, conversations about reparations and the Palestinian right of return are stifled by arguments explaining why injustice must go on and a yearning for the status quo.

The calls “Black Lives Matter” and “Free, Free Palestine,” serve to remind us that Palestine is not free and that if the lives of Black people mattered, there would be no need for the call. In both cases, people are in the grips of a cruel, racist system that refuses to let go. In both cases, people are being hunted down, caged, strangled, and shot to death, and the root cause of their suffering is rarely addressed.

FLANDERS, NJ – "The so-called Peace Plan announced by Trump/Netanyahu legitimizes the illegal actions of the Israeli government and reinforces the system of apartheid that already existed," said Madelyn Hoffman, the Green Party of New Jersey's candidate for US Senate in 2020. "As if to add an exclamation point, the IDF once again took aim at Gaza and started bombing on 1/29/20."

As ethnic conflict specialist Sheena Anne Arackal's Mondoweiss piece noted in its title, "The 'Deal' of the Century is Apartheid."

Popular Resistance
By Kevin Zeese & Margaret Flowers
November 17, 2019

We spent the last week in Occupied Palestinian Territory, commonly referred to as Israel, where we traveled around the country to visit communities in Jerusalem, Jaffa, Bethlehem, the West Bank, the Nagab, and more.

The controversy over Israel's refusal to allow an official visit by two members of Congress highlights the negative effects of a misguided bipartisan attempt by representatives of both major political parties to attack and smear the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights and freedom. By an overwhelming margin in July, the House of Representatives passed a nonbinding resolution to condemn the BDS movement and to endorse an Israeli-Palestinian two-state solution. Legislatures in more than two dozen U.S. states have passed measures condemning the BDS movement or banning contracts with businesses involved with it.

The Nakba — the expulsion of the majority native Christians and Muslims from historic Palestine from 1947-1949, a dispossession that continues to this day — is the core of the conflict, not the military occupation. For a sustainable and just peace, Palestinian refugees’ international human right to return to their homes in Israel must be honored. And the only plausible way that can happen is if Israel-Palestine becomes one democratic state with equality before the law, the national homes of two peoples.

Justin McCabe
May 15, 2019

The March of Return is a scream for life so that we may leave the walls of our prison. These are the words repeated by Ahmed Abu Artema in his many lectures and interviews. Abu Artema is the brain behind the most powerful expression of unarmed Palestinian resistance, The March of Return, which began on March 30, 2018, and has become a weekly occurrence in the Gaza Strip for close to a year.

"Why would we die here in silence? We want our message to reach the world. We want to say to the world ‘here there is a people. A people searching for a life of dignity, human rights and freedom.'"

I applaud your publishing Michael Galant's excellent (Nov. 18) essay, "Chris Murphy wants a new foreign policy." As Murphy's constituent, so do I.

Still, I couldn't agree more with Galant about Murphy's bellicose attitude toward Palestinians and apparent veneration of a Zionist Israel. Consider a 2015 press release issued on Murphy's becoming a ranking member of the Mideast Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in which he says:

In recent weeks, racism against Palestinian people and the expansion of apartheid-Jim Crow policies have escalated. The Israeli lobby and its supporters attacked freedom of speech in the United States, showing how far they will go to prevent the US public from being aware of their behavior.

If more people in the US become aware of the truth about Israel’s genocidal policies, the economic lifeline and political protection of the United States will disappear. Israel could be forced to make significant changes that recognize the human rights and self-determination of Palestinians.

The Hague, The Netherlands – Members of the Green Party of the United States traveled to the International Criminal Court (ICC) today to deliver a letter calling for a full investigation of Israel for war crimes it has committed against the Palestinians. 

In addition to being endorsed by the Green Party U.S., the letter was signed by over 1,000 organizations and individuals from the United States who want prosecutors at the ICC and the world to know that there is a political party and there are people in the U.S. who support holding nations accountable to international law. "The United States is complicit in Israel's crimes by providing financial support, selling weapons and providing political cover to Israel. Unlike the major political parties, the Green Party opposes these actions and has the courage to make this opposition official," said Dr. Margaret Flowers, Green Party U.S. co-chair.

New York City – On Monday, May 14, Israeli forces killed at least 58 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded thousands. Today's march is the response to the near-culmination of the historic #GreatReturnMarch, where for six weeks, tens of thousands of Palestinians — families, children, elders — have been gathering along the fence that keeps 2 million people penned in in an open air prison.

In grief and rage, we will mourn those who have been killed. With respect and inspiration, we will amplify the demands of Palestinians: the right to live in freedom and dignity, and the right to return home.