Death, Destruction & Ethnic Cleansing in Gaza Supported & Legitimized by U.S., E.U. & Canada

October 25, 2023

Rights Action commentary

As death, destruction, and ethnic cleansing reign down on over one million Palestinians in Gaza – much of it live–streamed on mainstream TV and social media platforms – it remains a timeworn and urgent responsibility of the people, media, and institutions of the U.S., Canada, and the E.U. to hold ourselves fully accountable for when “we” – our governments and militaries, our policies and actions, our media &ndash: contribute to and cause atrocities and destruction in other parts of the world.

Rights Action urges everyone to diversify their news sources, and suggests including the daily news coverage provided by Democracy Now!. We strongly recommend listening/watching to the last two weeks of their coverage, starting October 9, 2023.

It is not a question of whether you agree with every interview or perspective. It is not a question of whether there are other independent media outlets – there are many.

But it is an urgent question for the people of the U.S., Canada, and E.U., to break through the harmfully narrow and one-sided reporting of much of our mainstream media outlets and their ‘experts, pundits and opinion–makers’, and to directly challenge the harmfully narrow and one–sided policy explanations and justifications given by a majority of our elected politicians.

The only possible solution to the situation in Israel/Palestine is a political solution that addresses the immediate extreme situation and the historical root causes.

“October 7 attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum”

Speech of United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres

“I have condemned unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented October 7 acts of terror by Hamas in Israel. Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians or the launching of rockets against civilian targets. All hostages must be treated humanely and released immediately and without conditions. ...

“It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing. … ”

CTV news Vancouver, October 24, 2023

Yet instead of demanding an immediate ceasefire and the providing of massive humanitarian relief in response to horrific destruction and death happening every day in Gaza, and then demanding and supporting a politically negotiated solution addressing the current and historic underlying causes, the U.S., Canada, and E.U. are openly supporting, and therefore are complicit with ethnic cleansing and carpet–bombing war crimes being committed by Israel that are immeasurably worsening the entire situation.

The work Rights Action has done for close to 30 years in Guatemala and Honduras has always included work to expose, and hold accountable the U.S. and Canadian governments and militaries, and North American companies and banks (including the World Bank and IADB), if and when their policies and actions contribute to, or directly cause the systemic harms and violences that the majority poor Guatemalans and Hondurans suffer from and work desperately to survive and resist.

Put another way, the corrupt, anti-democratic, repressive governments in power in Guatemala and, until very recently, Honduras would not be able to plan, carry out and get away with systemic exploitation, land dispossession, repression and corruption, without maintaining full economic, military and political relations with the U.S. and Canadian governments and countless companies and banks.

Similarly, it is inconceivable that Israel could plan and carry out its current military assault on the Gaza, let alone carry out decades of illegal land dispossessing policies and actions, without the full economic, military and political support of the U.S., E.U. and Canada.

We urge everyone to get involved in some way. This can be by reading and learning about the issues from a wide range of media sources, talking with family and friends, sharing accurate news and resources, donating, and most importantly directly contacting your elected representatives to demand, at bare minimum:

1. A full and comprehensive ceasefire NOW,

2. The immediate provision of massive humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza by organizations and governments that have trusting relations with the Palestinians,

And then

3. The initiation of a long negotiation process to try, once again, to resolve the current situation and suffering, and – most important – to resolve the underlying historic root causes.

Below is a small list of resources for folks unsure of where to start. This is by no means a comprehensive list or the ‘best list’.

Thank-you.

Grahame Russell

Director, Rights Action

Camila Rich

Communications, Rights Action

Take action / Get informed

Jewish Voices for Peace: https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/

Independent Jewish Voices (Canada): https://www.ijvcanada.org/

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East: https://www.cjpmefoundation.org/

Coalition of Canadian Palestinian Organizations: https://www.canadapalestine.ca/

Resource Tree: https://ceasefiretoday.com/

Democracy Now: www.democracynow.org

Once one follows the social media feeds of these organizations, that will lead you to more information and organizations.