“We are living in conditions that I could have never in my entire life imagined were possible.” —Palestinian woman in Gaza

If you are not actively protesting and speaking out against Israel’s war in Gaza and against your own U.S. government for arming, funding and supporting it, here is what you ARE supporting:

You Are Supporting the Indiscriminate Bombing and Shelling of Civilians:  Israel claims it’s only targeting the reactionary Islamic group Hamas and its fighters. That’s a lie. It’s targeted cities, towns, hospitals, refugee camps, apartment buildings, farmlands, even beaches with bombs from above and tanks and bulldozers from the ground, striking more than 22,000 targets. In the first six weeks of the war, Israel routinely used its most devastating 2,000-pound bombs, including in 208 areas it had designated as safe for civilians. These bombs are capable of killing anyone within 3,000 feet!¹

You Are Supporting Mass Slaughter: As a result, at least 21,672 Palestinian people have been killed, including 8,800 children and 6,300 women. More than 7,000 are missing and presumed dead, buried under the rubble. Whole family trees have been wiped out: “The first 88 people on the list (of dead compiled by health officials) were all from the extended al-Astal family. The next 72 were Hassounas. The next 65 al-Najjars. The next 60 al-Masrys. The next 49 al-Kurds.”²

You Are Supporting the Injuring and Crippling of More Than 50,000 People, including Women and Children: Israel’s U.S.-made bombs, shells, and bullets have also injured more than 56,165 people, including at least 8,663 children and 6,327 women. These are overwhelmingly civilians!³

You Are Supporting Genocide—the Targeting and Displacement of a Whole Population: The whole population of Gaza is being subjected to a terror campaign of indiscriminate bombing and attacks, which has damaged or destroyed 313,000 residential units—more than half of Gaza’s homes. More than two million people—more than 85 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people—have been driven from their homes. This is a war crime.⁴

You Are Supporting the Driving of People South, Then Bombing Them There: Israel demanded people in northern Gaza evacuate to the south or be targeted, promising them they’d be safe there. Then it bombed, shelled and shot at them there. More than 1.7 million displaced people are registered in shelters in the south—which have been hit by Israeli attacks. Several hundred thousand are sleeping along roads and in open spaces because there’s no room in the shelters. Nearly 500 people on average share a single toilet.⁵

You Are Supporting the Destruction of Agriculture and Food Production. Israel has blockaded food, water, fuel and medicine from coming into Gaza. Meanwhile, it’s deliberately razed and destroyed farms and agricultural land—turning “lush green agricultural land into barren wasteland.” It’s also bombed, shelled or destroyed “bakeries, wheat mills, sanitation and water facilities.”⁶

You Are Supporting the Use of Starvation as a Weapon of War. According to the World Food Program 2.2 million people in Gaza are in crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity and 576,600 people face catastrophic hunger and starvation. The UN found that half of Gazans—more than a million people!—are at risk of starving to death. More than 90 percent of Palestinians in Gaza regularly go without any food for a whole day.⁷

You Are Supporting the Deliberate Creation of Epidemics of Thirst and Disease: Human Rights Watch reports that “97% of the groundwater in Gaza is unfit for human consumption after the destruction of pipelines and treatment sources, the rejection of humanitarian aid and the collapse of the medical system under incessant bombing, leading to mass dehydration and contagious disease.” The lack of potable water has meant that nearly half a million people in Gaza have developed infectious diseases. One former Israeli military official celebrated this development, writing the epidemic would “bring victory closer.”⁸ 

You Are Supporting the Destruction of Gaza’s Medical System. There’s barely any but the most rudimentary medical care left in Gaza. Israel has systematically attacked Gaza’s hospitals behind the lie that they’re Hamas command centers. It has damaged or destroyed 26 out of Gaza’s 35 hospitals so they are no longer functioning. Because of Israel’s blockade of medical supplies those remaining are barely able to function, offering only gauze and disinfectant as one doctor put it.⁹

You Are Supporting Israel’s Creation of a “Graveyard for Children”: The toll on children is staggering—and genocidal. Even before this latest war, 80 percent of children in Gaza experienced emotional distress and half had contemplated suicide. Now things are far worse for children. UNICEF reports that some 8,600 Palestinian children have been injured. A thousand have had limbs amputated—without anesthesia because of Israel’s blockade and destruction of Gaza’s medical system. Then there’s the enormous psychological trauma: “Our kids are in a state of unimaginable fear,” one mother said. “It’s a terrifying situation in every sense of the word.”¹⁰

You Are Supporting Cold-Blooded Murder: Palestinians have been rounded up and murdered in summary executions. There are reports that outside the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, Israeli forces bulldozed tents where displaced Palestinians were sheltering, crushing them to death.¹¹

You Are Supporting the Targeting of Doctors, Journalists, Professors, and More: Israel has killed doctors, professors, university administrators, scientists, journalists and more. “More journalists have been killed in the 12 weeks of the Gaza war than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year,” according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which lists at least 69 journalists and media workers killed since October 7. The Committee also warns that the Israeli military is not only targeting journalists, but also their families.¹²

All these are blatant war crimes. Are you OK with this?