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Palestine-Israel flags in cracked cement
The terrible violence that has swept across Israel and Gaza over the past week is the latest cycle in a struggle that has been ongoing for more than 75 years. The brutal killing of innocent Israeli civilians, including children, by Hamas has triggered a harsh reprisal that is taking the lives of innocent Palestinian civilians, including children. We condemn all this murdering of innocent people who are just struggling to live their lives and raise their families.
On Oct. 12, Muslims, Jews and people of other faiths held a press conference at the Islamic Resource Center in Greenfield. The Coalition for Justice in Palestine included 13 speakers representing a variety of organizations and backgrounds. They spoke about the longstanding unbalanced coverage by the American media of Israeli-Palestinian relations as well as the conditions endured by Palestinians in Gaza, a 25x7.5-mile strip along the Mediterranean coast wedged between Israel and Egypt. The speakers criticized the U.S. media and government for their response to the crisis.
In her opening remarks, Janan Najeeb, executive director of the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition, addressed the need for “an accurate narrative” instead of a “one-sided presentation” that disregards the Palestinians. She described Gaza as a gigantic prison, densely populated, subject to periodic attacks with high rates of unemployment and malnutrition. “We demand that the media be fair and representative in acknowledging the long-standing suffering of the Palestinian people.” She added that the American media is “endorsing war crimes against the unarmed civilian population” by refusing to question Israel’s air raids and threatened ground assault, ostensibly aimed at Hamas, the organization responsible for brutal assaults on Israeli civilians, but devastating the lives of Gaza’s 2.5 million inhabitants.
Representatives of 12 other organizations spoke at the press conference. Jewish Voice for Peace’s Lorraine Halinka Malcoe, associate professor at UWM’s Zilber School of Public Health, said that the loss of Israeli lives from Hamas’ attack cannot justify the loss of Palestinian lives from reprisals. “Palestinians are being dehumanized by our media, our government and too many Jewish organizations,” Halinka Malcoe said. She cited Israeli bombings of hospitals, apartment buildings, mosques and marketplaces in response to Hamas. Gaza’s food, water and electricity have been cut-off. “We call on people of conscience to call on our government to work for de-escalation,” she insisted.
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Othman Atta, executive director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, spoke of the obliteration of entire Gazan neighborhoods under Israeli bombardment. “The people have nowhere to go. Where are they going to live? How will they survive? We are against the killing of any civilians anywhere. According to international law, any people living under occupation have the right to resist that occupation,” he said.
Julie Enslow from Peace Action Wisconsin has traveled to Palestine as part of peace delegations and “saw for myself the oppression and suffering of the Palestinian people. I implore the U.S. to stop supporting Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and bombardment of Gaza. Violence begets violence. We call for a ceasefire and a just resolution to the conflict so Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace.”
Moving statements were made by two Palestinians with family in Gaza. One had spoken to his sister the day before she died. While she was shopping for food, the market was struck by Israeli warplanes and she was killed, leaving behind three children. Another man lost his cousin, a UN employee, on the first day of the Israeli bombardment.
Najeeb concluded the press conference by warning that the new phase of violence could overspill into the U.S. in the form of hate crimes.
