Today marks the anniversary of the October 7 attacks on Israel and the ongoing genocide on Gaza that followed. We are now on the brink of a regional war as Israel escalates its attacks and expands its military action on neighboring countries.
As a Quaker organization, we believe that all people have “that of God” within us. We mourn all who have been killed, and we hold their loved ones in the Light.
We mourn the 41,802 Palestinians who have been killed in Gaza, and the thousands more buried under the rubble who have yet to be accounted for.
We mourn the 1,200 people who have been killed in Israel.
We mourn the 719 Palestinians who have been killed in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
We mourn the 1,699 people who have been killed in Lebanon.
We mourn the 986 healthcare workers, 174 journalists, and more than 300 aid workers killed in Gaza.
We mourn the many AFSC partners, family members and friends of AFSC staff who have been killed.
But mourning is not enough. Bearing witness is not enough.
On October 7, Hamas and other Palestinian groups broke through Israel’s militarized security wall, killing over a thousand people and bringing hostages back to Gaza. It was the deadliest day in Israel’s history.
Israel’s attacks on Gaza began immediately. Within days, AFSC’s office in Gaza City was damaged by an Israeli bomb, and our staff and hundreds of thousands of others were forced to flee their homes. Today, almost 90% of people in Gaza are internally displaced. Israel has relentlessly bombed schools, hospitals, and places of worship. All sources of life are targeted and obstructed: food, water, electricity, fuel, shelter. Starvation is being used as a weapon of war. Israel blocks most aid from going in and people from leaving. The U.S. continues to send weapons despite ample evidence Israel is blocking aid and committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
This is why we call for a cease-fire and an arms embargo. And we are not alone.
Palestinians who lost everything to Israel’s bombs have called for a cease-fire.
Families of Israeli hostages have called for a cease-fire.
Most of the international community, multilateral institutions, civil society groups, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish faith leaders and congregants, and protestors from every walk of life have called for a cease-fire.
But our leaders have failed us.
Today, Israelis, Palestinians, and people all over the world are less secure than they were a year ago. Over and over Israeli leaders have rejected or undermined cease-fire proposals, prioritizing the destruction of Gaza over the return of the hostages. The U.S. has funded and supported this violence with billions of dollars, provided diplomatic cover for Israel, and delegitimized itself in the international community and with its own people.
This must end.
But a cease-fire that returns to the status quo that existed before 2023 is not enough. This did not begin on October 7.
Israeli occupation, apartheid, and the systematic dispossession and disregard for Palestinian rights has been happening for decades. Most residents of Gaza are refugees whose families were forcibly displaced from their land when Israel was founded. AFSC began working in Gaza in 1948, helping set up refugee camps and providing food aid. While our work has taken many forms over the years, our commitment to the right of return for Palestinians and a just and lasting peace for all people remains constant.
By 2023 Gaza was in its sixteenth year of an Israeli-imposed blockade that severely limited electricity, medical care, jobs, education, and freedom of movement. In the first nine months of the year, the Israeli military killed more than 250 Palestinians.
Genocide does not arise because of a single action. The support for genocide and the dehumanization that undergirds it develop over years. Now even the ability to bear witness is under attack. Israel will not allow international media to enter Gaza. Many western media outlets have printed false or misleading reports in a campaign of weaponized disinformation. Israeli atrocities and Palestinian deaths are reported on passively or not at all. Palestinian journalists work courageously to get news out to the world. Many of them have been targeted and killed.
Genocide anywhere is an indictment of our collective humanity. Ending it requires sustained collective action.
Over the last year, AFSC staff in Gaza have provided humanitarian aid to over a million people. They have done this despite extreme hardship and at personal risk to themselves. We are humbled by their perseverance, courage, and steadfast commitment to building a better world even in the face of unimaginable atrocities.
In the U.S. and across the globe we have organized, protested, lobbied, and marched. We have participated in prayer vigils, teach-ins, occupations, and divestment campaigns.
For the last year, we have lifted up these demands:
- An immediate and permanent cease-fire and an arms embargo on Israel;
- Full and unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza and restoration of funding for UNRWA;
- The release of all Israeli hostages and the thousands of Palestinian prisoners who have been arbitrarily detained;
- Investigation and accountability for violations of international law by all parties;
- An end to apartheid and the settler-colonial occupation of Palestine.
Today these demands are more urgent than ever. What we tolerate for Palestinians we are tolerating for ourselves. That is why we will continue to raise these demands, no matter how much opposition we face or how long it takes. We do this because we believe all people deserve safety and freedom, and we know that safety and freedom will never emerge from oppression and violence.
The current path leads only to more devastation and death. As the U.S. increases its military presence in the region and the death toll continues to rise, we commit ourselves not to the leaders who perpetuate destruction but to the millions of people across the world calling out for justice and peace.
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The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) promotes a world free of violence, inequality, and oppression. Guided by the Quaker belief in the divine light within each person, we nurture the seeds of change and the respect for human life to fundamentally transform our societies and institutions. We work with people and partners worldwide, of all faiths and backgrounds, to meet urgent community needs, challenge injustice, and build peace.