To the Editor:
Unspeakable and unrelenting violence and brutality are being inflicted upon innocent and powerless humans throughout the world. In Israel/Palestine, in Yeman, Ukraine, Congo, Kashmir, India, and Colombia. Sometimes it’s about land, sometimes religion, sometimes drugs, sometimes about resources like timber, metals, or oil. But it’s always ugly and it’s always the innocent who suffer, or die, or become refugees. The mothers and the children, the sick and the weak, the poor with nowhere to hide and nowhere to run. The powerful, those with big guns and weaponry like tanks, fighter jets, missiles, bulldozers, war ships. and bombs destroy and decimate all who get in the way.
Unspeakable and unrelenting violence and brutality are being inflicted upon innocent and powerless humans throughout the world. In Israel/Palestine, in Yeman, Ukraine, Congo, Kashmir, India, and Colombia. Sometimes it’s about land, sometimes religion, sometimes drugs, sometimes about resources like timber, metals, or oil. But it’s always ugly and it’s always the innocent who suffer, or die, or become refugees. The mothers and the children, the sick and the weak, the poor with nowhere to hide and nowhere to run. The powerful, those with big guns and weaponry like tanks, fighter jets, missiles, bulldozers, war ships. and bombs destroy and decimate all who get in the way.
My own country perpetrated a genocide on nineteen million indigenous peoples (which is still playing out today in places like Thacker Pass). Recent history is replete with atrocities, genocides, and holocausts. It will only stop when we say it must stop. We must recognize the humanity of the “other” and respect the “others” right to exist. We must acknowledge that all people, particularly children and babies, are of equal value. There are powerful forces within the military/industrial/banking complex who have no reservations or regrets about murdering “others.” Including millions of Vietnamese, a million Iraquis, tens of thousands in Hiroshima/Nagasaki, or six million Jews to maintain power, profits, and control. We must say no to mindless, military madness and spending. We must find human, humane, and peaceful solutions. Let’s start with a cease-fire in Israel/Palestine.
Eli Kassirer
Eli Kassirer