Dear friends,

I received the following message from a friend. The message goes far beyond the politics involved as it addresses a deeply held concern that is within the purpose and mission of Shem Center. I offer it here by way of choosing not be silent over the deaths of some 400,000 Lebanese children as well as 40,000 Palestinian women and children in Gaza. Yes, we’re talking about children! The depth of suffering of our sisters and brothers and their children is impossible to imagine. Yet knowing about it belongs in the narrative of everyone’s life. The heartbreaking story of the Jewish people is also woven into this story. How we hold these stories and how we choose to act is ours to decide. Choosing to ignore them is wrong.

— Br. Joseph Kilikevice, OP
Director, Shem Center for Interfaith Spirituality

Over the weekend, Israeli forces intensified their genocide in Gaza and violent attacks against Lebanon — we cannot look away or ignore this.

In northern Gaza, more than 400,000 displaced and starving Palestinians who are trapped with nowhere to go are being forced to leave or die. The Israeli military has not only continued bombing and shooting Palestinians taking shelter in refugee camps, hospitals, and schools, but it also separated men and boys from women, blindfolding and binding their arms, with reports of many being arrested, tortured, or killed.

Reporter Hossam Shabat (@HossamShabat) dispatched this message on X: “Israeli occupation forces continue ethnically cleansing the north. Today, they attacked a school in the Jabalia refugee camp and forced people out of it. Then they lined them up and shot anyone who dared to move. Any male over the age of 16 is being detained, tortured, and investigated. Many people who are being lined up are sick individuals, such as amputees, cancer patients, and young kids who are being asked to stand in line for hours. The situation is catastrophic.”

Israel is carrying out its final stage of ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza while the world watches and our government provides the bombs and weapons to do it.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military is wreaking similar havoc in Lebanon, using the same strategy they’ve used in Gaza over the past year. Yesterday, thousands of Lebanese civilians were sent into a panic after Israel issued last-minute evacuation warnings to residential communities in Beirut and southern Lebanon. Israel then proceeded to bomb these densely populated areas overnight, including near Beirut’s international airport.

We still don’t know the extent of casualties and damage in Lebanon, but the UN says more than 400,000 Lebanese children — almost 10% of the entire country’s population — have been displaced due to Israel’s attacks.

Israel’s far-right government led by genocidal Prime Minister Netanyahu cannot continue to go unchecked like this.

The Biden administration said last week that it’s giving Israel 30 days to improve the situation, but it continues providing billions of dollars worth of bombs and weapons and is even sending U.S. troops to serve alongside the IDF, likely violating the Leahy Law and the War Powers Act.

We cannot wait until after the election to stop this genocide.

Add your name to tell the Biden administration: stop violating U.S. and international law by arming and enabling Israel’s genocide — we demand an arms embargo NOW!

In solidarity,
Justice Democrats