On Israeli Genocide

The Israeli slaughtering of an entire population is one of the most monumental crimes of this century. The level of moral outrage that needs to be expressed now is beyond what US society is capable of. Our diseased culture, our broken institutions and our utter lack of capacity for caring for each other is being translated into government support for genocide. The student encampments are one of the few inspiring symbols of resistance and hope. The solidarity and determination being shown by students to a cause greater than themselves is an inspiration to the best of our humanity.

I would love to have the clarity of insight to talk about “effective” strategies for stopping this genocide. I could prattle on about fundamental causes of US and Israeli militarism and their rapacious appetites for destruction. No doubt this is connected to the illogic of global capitalism, the geostrategic manifestations of a global system built on exploitation, oppression and pillage. The Israeli expansion of illegal settlements and the walling off of the Gaza Strip like an open air prison is now coupled with genocide and future plans to recreate Gaza as a capitalist playground for an expanded Israel. The fact that Israeli real estate speculators are openly advertising the opportunities for luxury living in Gaza once an entire population has been exterminated is illustrative of what this is all about.

Sometimes movements for change that are serious and long-term and facing seemingly insurmountable odds have to be morally centered. The expression of moral outrage is a crucial aspect of what fuels protest and why people are motivated by protest. That being said, this boycott, divestment and sanctions movement is also connected to a broader politics of anti-militarization that is focused on highlighting those who are complicit in this massive global crime. By demanding that universities divest from Israel, students are raising awareness of the genocide that is taking place. Students are also pressing universities to open their books to show us how deeply they are connected to a broader system of militarization, one whose tentacles extend so deep into US society that they tie us to a global system of violence that eviscerates more humane solutions for solving problems that are existential for human survival. The fact that BDS has grown in purpose, intentionality and linkages to domestic and global networks of anti-militaristic solidarity should inspire hope.

Critics of the student encampments are led by those who want to justify and perpetuate the genocide that is taking place. The fact that our ruling class is so united in providing daily support for a genocide is deeply revealing about the depths of depravity in our capitalist system. The use of McCarthyist tactics to accuse anyone who protests as being a Hamas supporter is the kind of lowest common denominator tactic that has long been used to prop up bipartisan political support for a never-ending warfare machine, also endorsed by both political parties. Joe Biden’s supply side liberalism, somehow labeled as “progressive” by clueless liberals, has mainly been a massive giveaway to corporations to beg them to invest in needed social infrastructure, including to some extent green energy technology. The political exchange for getting this legislation passed: guaranteeing an expansion of oil exploration as a quid pro quo for getting political support for massive corporate subsidies.

The attempt to leverage the interests of capital in spending taxpayer money to get them to do some of what is needed to address the climate crisis expresses the utter lunacy of the system. Of course, as part of the expanded bipartisan spending bills championed by Democrats and supported by some Republicans is another central justification: they tell us we have to spend as part of a broader militarization of U.S. society necessary to prepare for war against China. This is a return of military Keynesianism on a massive scale. Corporations because they are profit-making machines cannot solve humanity’s problems. Instead, we prop them up with corporate welfare that is then linked to scenarios of World War III.

The U.S. and other global capitalist states that have disproportionate power within an increasingly militarized and destructive political and economic system have no real answers for the crises that they have created and that they perpetuate. As corporations fail to invest in what societies need, because that is fundamentally at odds with their purpose, we shower them with money and use militarization and policing and “security” as our justifications. The hollowness of this system is being perceived by young people setting up encampments. On this day, I am grateful for at least some expressions of disgust, opposition and moral outrage at a bipartisan capitalist system that has long ceased to work for the vast majority of us, and is now openly embracing genocidal crimes.