We Urge Readers to Make a Difference Today

Like you, we woke up to news that the Palestinian resistance movement in Gaza had launched a lightning attack into Israel. Our staff headed into Middle East Books and More, because we knew we’d have a busy day as concerned customers came in to talk and find solidarity. We also needed to figure out which articles in the upcoming Washington Report on Middle Affairs could be postponed to make room for coverage of this late-breaking story.  

Washington Report readers know that Gazans have endured living in an “open-air prison” for more than 16 years. Today Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told Gaza’s residents to “get out now”—but Gazans have been trapped for years. Our readers support Palestinian demands for justice and freedom after decades of violence, home invasions, arrests, detentions without trials, daily attacks by Jewish settlers and soldiers, military checkpoints, barriers separating Palestinians from each other, as well as the desecration of Muslim and Christian holy sites.

We deplore the killing and wounding of Palestinian and Israeli civilians today. When six Palestinian prisoners escaped the high security Gilboa Prison in 2021, we confess that many of us felt a surge of pride and hope. Today that pride is mixed with dread, because we know Netanyahu always responds to Palestinians—especially Gazans—with devastating brutality. Already he is using fighter jets and U.S. weaponry to pummel infrastructure and terrorize innocent civilians who have no bomb shelters.

We are haunted by the photos of Netanyahu showing a map of his version of “the new Middle East”—without Palestine—during his Sept. 22, 2023 address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York. We all need to make sure that Netanyahu and his racist government don’t use Hamas’ resistance as an excuse to eradicate Palestinians.

What Can You Do?

1. Join a protest (the ANSWER Coalition is organizing “TAKE TO THE STREETS: Free Palestine!” around the country).

2. Donate to your favorite charity. ANERA, United Palestinian Appeal, Zakat, UNRWA and other charities need our help to send emergency supplies.

3. Write or call the secretary of state, lawmakers, radio and TV stations and newspaper editors to respond to the overwhelmingly one-sided discourse we’ve already seen. 

4. Support and subscribe to unbiased journalism, including—naturally—the Washington Report, Mondoweiss, CounterPunch, The Electronic Intifada, Palestine Chronicle and Middle East Monitor.