OPINION | Pro-Palestinian Protests Nationwide Tell Our Government 'Stop Contributing to Genocide'

by Jesse Kennemer

When protestors affiliated with Jewish Voice for Peace, Falastiniyat, and the Seattle chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) blocked the northbound lanes of I-5 for five straight hours on Jan. 6 to demand an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, it did not happen in isolation. Large demonstrations also took place locally at the Westlake Christmas tree lighting in November, on the University Bridge in mid-December, and at the Space Needle on New Year's Eve. Nationally, on Dec. 14, Jewish Voice for Peace blocked eight major roads or bridges in eight cities on the eighth night of Hanukkah. The Holland Tunnel, as well as the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges in New York City, were blocked on Jan. 8, resulting in over 300 arrests. Last Saturday, tens of thousands of protestors marched in Washington, D.C., for a global day of protest to demand a cease-fire.

Local conservatives such as gubernatorial hopeful Dave Reichert responded to the I-5 protest only to criticize protestors, with little or no mention of the mass killing in Gaza. The Seattle Times editorial board chastised local leadership, including U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, for failing to get our highway opened back up as quickly as authorities in New York and Los Angeles. The board declined to discuss the ongoing human rights catastrophe in Gaza.

It is not only members of anti-Zionist groups like Jewish Voice for Peace who view Israel's attack on Gaza as a genocidal event. Raz Segal, an associate professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University, argued back in October in Jewish Currents that "the assault on Gaza can also be understood in other terms: as a textbook case of genocide unfolding in front of our eyes. I say this as a scholar of genocide, who has spent many years writing about Israeli mass violence against Palestinians." In December, 55 scholars in Holocaust and Genocide Studies called for an end to Israeli military violence in Gaza in order to prevent genocide.

Oxfam reports that the death rate of 250 Palestinians per day in Gaza is higher than the daily death rate in any recent major conflict, including fighting in Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen. Israeli officials have used openly genocidal language since the beginning of the conflict. Ariel Kallner, a member of the Israeli Knesset, openly called for a second Nakba (Arabic for "Catastrophe," used to describe Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948) on social media in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself tweeted on Oct. 16, "This is a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle." South Africa is arguing in the International Court of Justice that Israel's actions in Gaza violate the 1948 Genocide Convention.

This violence may feel far removed from life in the United States, but the Israeli Defense Forces would not be able to kill 250 Palestinians per day without America's help. According to the U.S. State Department, "Israel is the leading global recipient of Title 22 U.S. security assistance under the Foreign Military Financing program (FMF). Through FMF, the United States provides Israel with access to some of the most advanced military equipment in the world, including the F-35 Lightning." The State Department discloses that the U.S. has 599 active Foreign Military Sales to Israel valued at $23.8 billion, as well as $5.7 billion in Direct Commercial Sales. These transactions include chemical and biological agents, guided and ballistic missiles, rockets, torpedoes, bombs, mines, helicopters, and fighter jets.

It is with American-sourced F-16, F-15, and F-35 aircraft that the Israeli Air Force has indiscriminately bombed and leveled Gaza. The munitions they are dropping are also American, mostly Mark 80 series bombs manufactured by General Dynamics Ordnance in Virginia. Everyday Americans are funding the genocide in Gaza when they pay taxes. We have been paying for Israel to arm, supply, and train its military for decades. As Congress debates $14.3 billion in additional emergency military aid to Israel as part of a larger defense spending bill, it is critical that American lawmakers cannot reasonably claim even tacit support from the American public.

I believe protests like the blockade of I-5 are best understood as a desperate attempt to provide a counter-narrative that is difficult for U.S. politicians to ignore. The level of disruption is justified only by the magnitude of what is at stake. Over 24,000 Palestinians have been killed and 2 million have been displaced in Gaza since October, and the existence of a future for the Palestinian people in Gaza is at stake. These demonstrations are not necessarily intended to win over new support from onlookers. They are meant to disrupt the status quo and force the issue. Public polling already shows support for a cease-fire is high regardless of party affiliation, yet President Joe Biden and Congress are still comfortable ignoring the will of the American people.

While Israel continues to kill Palestinian civilians in Gaza using American weapons and the support of the U.S. government, more protest actions are inevitable in Seattle and across the rest of the country in an attempt to make material support of Israel's genocide less comfortable. As recently as Tuesday, Biden's speech at a campaign rally in Virginia was disrupted by pro-cease-fire protestors no less than 14 times. It is possible that even as protests grow larger and more disruptive, Biden will continue to resist calls to support a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. Bombs may continue to ship from Virginia to drop on Gaza and tens of thousands more Palestinians may die. In the absence of any protest or resistance from Americans, I believe that ongoing and enthusiastic U.S. government support for Israel would not even be a question. Principled resistance against the Israeli genocide in Gaza is necessary even if the anti-war movement may fail.

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Jesse Kennemer is a line cook and writer living in Seattle, Washington. They enjoy cooking for a community meal program in Capitol Hill, studying food history, and growing vegetables in their alley.

📸 Featured Image: Protestors called for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war and shut down northbound I-5 on Jan. 6, 2024. (Photo: Susan Fried)