The State of Genocide
A 24-hour vigil in Chicago for Gaza on March 7th and 8th was called “The State of Genocide.” It was organized by a broad coalition of Palestinian, Jewish, antiwar, anti-racist, feminist groups and activists. The event, as both an act of mourning and a call to action, was part of a nationwide protest to demand an end to U.S. funding of the slaughter of Palestinians and timed with the hollow words of Biden’s State of the Union address. Since then, the number of Palestinians slaughtered by Israel continues to climb, Ramadan began and ended, the invasion of Rafah remains imminent, and more Gazans are starving.
Names from the lists of the more than 30,000 slaughtered were read by the speakers—more meaningful than a statistic on the nightly news.
Linda Loew represented Chicago for Abortion Rights which stands solidly behind the demand for immediate and permanent ceasefire. Her words honored the resistance of the Palestinian people and the women who fought for human rights in the historic organization of the first International Women’s Day over a century ago. Her remarks were delivered on the morning of March 8, 2024, International Women’s Day.
Chicago For Abortion Rights is one of a growing number of feminist organizations that are embracing Palestinian liberation—the only way to achieve reproductive justice everywhere across the globe, including here in the belly of the beast!
More and more people are uniting to oppose genocide, ethnic cleansing, and our government being its chief enabler.
We must name the state of genocide for what it is and keep fighting to have our voices heard—Stop funding Israel’s genocide, apartheid, and occupation. Do not do it in my name as a Jewish person, not in my name as a feminist and fighter for abortion rights and full reproductive justice.
Today is International Women’s Day, when millions celebrate the role of women in the worldwide struggle for freedom and justice.
We must remember and reclaim the fighting spirit at the roots of International Women’s Day—among the toiling women of Europe and Russia: fighting war, famine, and horrible working conditions, taking to the streets, to demand peace and bread, and also in the U.S., the right to vote. They brought many male comrades into action with them. More than a century later we are still fighting the barbarism of more war, genocide, famine, and environmental catastrophes.
From France, where the legislature has now enshrined the constitutional right to abortion for all, to the green wave of Latin America, to Iran, Ireland, and Poland, women have been holding the banner of resistance to oppression, fighting for bodily autonomy, and freedom from the plundering and displacement by war and environmental catastrophes. Women also continue to fight violence against them, as well as against LGBTQ populations in their countries. All are victims of a system of greed, that puts billionaire profits over human needs, and tries to divide us in the process.
What could be more violent than the bombs and bullets raining down on the women, children, and all people in Gaza? The current genocidal slaughter intensifies the crisis brought by decades of occupation and siege.
We must embrace our Palestinian sisters and brothers. An immediate and permanent ceasefire must be the first step!
We know that mobilizing in massive numbers, taking to the streets, with bodies on the line, is the way fundamental change comes about. That’s what Chicagoans have been doing day after day, month after month. That’s how collectively we finally won the ceasefire resolution, passed by Chicago’s City Council.
But for a small and precious child who has lost both parents and possibly all of their family, or faced an amputation on their young bodies, without anesthesia, our resolutions do not save them from unfathomable pain and tragic abandonment. Or a mother facing childbirth with no care available, no food, no power, and growing risks of miscarriage. For them the sun rises in Gaza to despair. More lives and dreams have been shattered every single night.
Each name we’ve read during this vigil is for a precious life cut short, many less than a year old to ten years old. Many whose entire family was on that list next to them.
The same government funding this mass destruction of lives and land is responsible for deep assaults on abortion rights and bodies, here at home, hitting hardest the uninsured, poor, and people of color, especially across the American south. Our nation suffers the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the “advanced world.” There’s nothing advanced about it—it is barbaric, shameful, and criminal.
The billions of our tax dollars funding Israel’s genocide could fund reproductive healthcare for all; full abortion access with no bans or restrictions, including abortion medication/mifepristone; maternal and infant care throughout the U.S., and with resources left to be a true world leader in healthcare, and preventing further climate catastrophes.
But Biden and company do not take responsibility for the terror they have unleashed, They will never be able to wash the blood from their hands.
The victims here and in Palestine are portrayed as criminals and terrorists. But the real criminals and terrorists are in our very own government!
Biden and Harris boast of air drops—too little too late—a band aid on an open wound that has slaughtered more than 32,000 and left more than million displaced and on the brink of famine.
A temporary ceasefire is not enough—although any relief from bombardment is welcome. Nothing short of permanent ceasefire, and an end to all Israeli control of Palestinian land and lives, will bring a successful end to this global struggle for peace and liberation, and a genuine opportunity to rebuild, under total Palestinian control.
In closing, on this International Women’s Day, we rededicate ourselves to the struggles of working women and allies here and around the world.
We will be part of the resistance until all are free between the river and the sea!
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!