In early November, on a beautiful Central California afternoon, Peace Fresno led a group of local residents in a peace march and demonstration on the sidewalks at the corner of Blackstone and Nees avenues in front of Riverpark Shopping Center to denounce all wars, especially the genocide that is happening now in Palestine.
There were about 100 people at the demonstration, a diverse group that included older adults, retirees, students, workers and families. All faced the busy streets with their colorful handcrafted signs in solidarity with Palestine. “Say No to Nukes” and “Honk for Peace” were some of the signs.
Many drivers honked their horns in support, and everyone observing seemed to support the cause. There were no visible counterprotesters.
The event was cohosted by a coalition of local peace and social justice organizations: Back from the Brink, the Fresno Center for Nonviolence, the Palestine Liberation Group, Raza Against War, Veterans for Peace and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
The coalition supporting the march believes that Americans should know how their tax dollars are being used. For example, since Israel’s founding in 1948, it has received at least $158 billion in military aid and tens of billions more in economic aid from the United States.
This money has been a real gift to the multibillion dollar military industrial complex, which builds weapons of mass destruction. Such weapons include bombs, missiles, jets, helicopters, artillery, tanks, “shield” technology, ammunition and more—weapons currently being used to actively ethnically cleanse Palestinians.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, the Biden administration has sent more than $17.9 billion in military aid to Israel to combat the Palestinians, which has included fighter jets, advanced air-to-air missiles and other advanced weapons systems. The bombs dropped by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are made in the United States. The United States has already provisionally agreed through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to provide $3.8 billion more each year to Israel through 2028 so that it can continue its brutal military campaign.
Every day in Gaza, on average, 115 people are killed: 46 children, 31 women and 38 men. Israel has killed at least 42,000 people in Gaza in the past year—17,000 children. And that’s not to mention the thousands more still buried beneath rubble and unaccounted for. Or the permanently injured and maimed. Thousands more are displaced and homeless.
Palestinians are not mere numbers, of course; they are real people, loving human beings. Yet, everyone in Gaza is starving. The truth is, Israel has been ruthless in its ethnic cleansing campaign. And Americans are funding it.
In late September, Senators Bernie Sanders (I–Vt.), Peter Welch (D–Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D–Ore.) and Brian Schatz (D–Hawaii) introduced three Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) to stop a $20 billion weapons shipment already approved by the Biden administration. Unfortunately, the resolutions were swiftly voted down and defeated in a Senate vote in mid-November.
“The United States of America is complicit in these atrocities,” says Sanders. “That complicity must end, and that is what these resolutions are about.”
At a press conference on Capitol Hill, Sanders remarked that “what is happening in Gaza today is unspeakable. What makes it even more painful is that much of what is happening there has been done with U.S. weapons and with American taxpayer support.”
Dan Yaseen, president of Peace Fresno, a longtime peace and antiwar activist and host of Speaking Truth to Power on KFCF 88.1 FM, remarked at the rally: “We are all here today to demand that our current Congress and President Biden end all war and end genocide, end Israel’s expansion of war in Lebanon and Iran, end [the] U.S./NATO war in Ukraine and close all of our overseas military bases.”
Big words coming from a small place. Fresno wants peace, and these peace activists are letting the world know that they mean business.
Taking Action!
Contact your Congressional representative and U.S. senators to urge them to vote against sending more funds to Israel.
Furthermore, you can organize to create community awareness about the Palestinian plight by teaming up with groups such as Peace Fresno (peacefresno.org), Back from the Brink (preventnuclearwar.org), the Fresno Center for Nonviolence (centerfornonviolence.org), the Palestine Liberation Group, Raza Against War, Veterans for Peace (vfp180.org) and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF Fresno on Facebook).
References
- https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts
- https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-military-aid-for-israel-tops-17-9-billion-since-last-oct-7
- https://www.reuters.com/world/us-has-sent-israel-thousands-2000-pound-bombs-since-oct-7-2024-06-28/
- https://www.peacefresno.org/
- https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2024/10/8/know-their-names-palestinian-families-killed-in-israeli-attacks-on-gaza
- https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-announces-intention-to-file-joint-resolutions-of-disapproval-to-block-arms-sales-to-israel/
- https://www.fcnl.org/updates/2024-11/understanding-joint-resolutions-disapproval-arms-sales-israel
- https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/20/politics/senate-vote-arms-sales-to-israel/index.html
- https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts
- https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/20/politics/senate-vote-arms-sales-to-israel/index.html
- https://soundcloud.com/speaking-truth-to-empire
- https://www.kfcf.org/kfcf-local-radio-shows/
