All life is sacred. Killing is wrong, immoral. It cannot get more basic.

 Since October 2023, Israel has perpetuated a genocide campaign on Palestinians in Gaza. The genocide is only made possible because of unimaginable amounts of US funding (our tax dollars) and military might (bombs, tanks, drones, etc.) sent to Israel to perpetrate this genocide on Palestinians in Gaza where the infrastructure has been destroyed ensuring NO possibility of recovery. Even though a “ceasefire” was called, the genocide continues with Israeli air and drone strikes and military raids killing Palestinians every day. Israel has barred entry to and exit from Gaza, and virtually no humanitarian aid or even commercial food supplies have been allowed in. Continuing with impunity, Israel has escalated its colonial tactics in the West Bank and also in Lebanon where it is conducting a major military offensive displacing over one million people by targeting infrastructure, destroying border villages, all resulting in significant civilian casualties and a growing humanitarian crisis. None of this would be possible without US support of Israel.

“The failure to hold Israel accountable for its crimes in Gaza has only emboldened further violence – now spilling into Lebanon with devastating consequences. Impunity fuels escalation. Lord, have mercy.” Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac

 As if the genocide in Gaza and the subsequent military offensive on Lebanon were not enough, the US and Israel bombed Iran in February as a demonstration of Israeli supremacy in the Middle East and US supremacy in the world, violating both U.S. domestic and international law.  And – on Easter Sunday – President Trump bellowed that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”

 With this direct threat of mass violence, the Israeli and US killing machines are putting the entire planet in peril with such irrational, callous, illegal, heartless, and insane acts of violence and aggression. (Thank God for the 2-week ceasefire brokered at the last minute on April 7.)

• It is time now to stop the funding stream to Israel that makes it possible to render genocide.

• It is time now to demand that this administration uphold constitutional and international law.

• It is time now to do everything we can to end the US/Israeli war with Iran

• It is time now to call for the removal of an irrational, unhinged President.

• It is time now to pray every day that peace will prevail.

 If we do not do these things, we risk our own sanity and claim to be civilized. This is a crisis moment. Do something. All lives depend on it.

 With love and encouragement from the Ithaca Catholic Worker community