Correspondence - #19 - Laserfiche WebLink

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In addition, 1,780,000 of the 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced from their homes, with 60,000 units destroyed. 262 schools, 95 mosques, and 3 churches have been damaged. These numbers don't even touch on the environmental contamination from thousands of bombs and use of illegal white phosphorus, and devastation of wildlife. It is foolish to argue that this targeting of civilians of all ages and destruction of health systems and infrastructure are not deliberate. This is a genocide. Some argue against this case because not all Gazans have been killed yet, and because of the claim that Israel could easily kill all Gazans if its leaders wished. However, the system of determining whether a series of massacres constitutes a genocide is based on international law rather than individual opinions. Raz Segal, the program director of genocide studies at Stockton University, described Israel's current campaign as "a textbook case of genocide". Craig Mokhiber, who resigned from his director position at the United Nations, used the same language. The UN Convention on Genocide requires that an event meet at least one of five conditions, combined with proven genocidal intent, to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, racial, ethnic, or religious group. The current bombing campaign in Gaza meets the conditions of killing members of a group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, and deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, according to attorney Lara Elborno. Elborno says that Israel's actions meet the legal definition of genocide under the Rome Statute as well as the Genocide Convention. According to Elborno, meeting the conditions of genocide require intent and action, and Israel has fulfilled both, with over 100 statements of genocidal intent expressed at the highest levels of Israeli military and government in the past two months. Today, the House of Representatives passed a resolution that declares anti -Zionism as a form of antisemitism. This bill is a threat to freedom of speech and smears the thousands of Palestinian Americans who advocate to end the slaughter of their families and condemn the ethnic cleansing of their families by a supremacist settler colonial project. The idea that criticizing an ethnonationalist, settler colonial movement or a foreign government will be framed as a form of bigotry sets a dangerous precedent and has no place in a democracy. Moreover, our government's support for this genocide has no place in a country that champions itself as a beacon of human rights and democracy. Israel's actions are only possible through American support. For this reason, it is my responsibility to advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza, as well as an end to all U.S. aid to Israel. I am familiar with Santa Ana's legacy of advocacy and justice, and I have faith that many others would be proud to share this sentiment. Thank you for your time. Best regards, Laila El Hasan