Article - Speech given at the ‘End the Wars at Home & Abroad’ Rally

Speech given at the ‘End the Wars at Home & Abroad’ Rally

Therese Mughannam

What words are left that haven’t been said thousands of times about Gaza? There is a so-called peace plan in Gaza, but the Israelis always feel free to ignore peace plans, as they also did in bombing Lebanon recently.

The genocide in Gaza continues. Why will no one stop what the Israelis have been doing to the Palestinians for decades? There are those who can stop the killing, but they won’t do it, as they benefit from the genocide, they benefit from the occupation of Palestine. The US and the EU are masterful at using words, which turn out to be lies, as they send more arms to kill more people in Gaza,. Bombs and destroyer jets paid for with our tax dollars.

In this genocide – as of 12/2025 – over 72,000 Gazans have been killed by Israel, not counting those still under the ruble for over two years, and 171,000 injured. Three-hundred and thirty-three people killed since Trump’s so-called peace plan of October 10. In the West Bank about 1,100 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers since October 7, 2023. The disproportionality of killing and destruction is beyond belief. As someone pointed out, what Israel is doing in Palestine is not an aberration, but a culmination of Israeli ideology. It is a replaying of the Nakba of 1948 – killing, and pushing people into smaller areas, and destroying their homes and properties.

Gaza is home to 2.2 million people. It’s only 25 miles long and five miles wide. Not many realize that the Israeli military now controls 58 percent of Gaza, which Israel now claims to be the new border between Gaza and Israel. If any Palestinian gets close to the invisible separation “yellow line,” that person is shot. Gazans are being pushed toward the sea. Since the Nakba of 1948, the Israeli goal has been to push, kill and displace the indigenous Palestinians, and replace them with Jewish persons. This is settler colonialism at work – the ongoing erasure of the Palestinian people.

In Gaza, the United Nations has also been complicit in the ongoing genocide. The UN has basically handed Gaza over to Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Also, to Tony Blair, who is one of the architects of the destruction of Iraq. The so called “board of peace” – assuming it will materialize — will be headed by Kushner and Blair, who effectively will become the new colonial rulers. None of the Palestinians are involved in determining their own future. Clearly, what this amounts to, is the recolonization of Palestine.

In the last months several European nations have called for a two-state solution. Sounds generous, doesn’t it? But really, it’s diverting the attention from the immediate issue, which is the continued killing and bombing of the people in Gaza.

How about ending the genocide first, or holding Israel responsible for its actions under international law? Or ending their shipment of arms to Israel, or forcing Israel to end the blockade of Gaza, so that thousands of trucks waiting for months, filled with aid, can be delivered to desperate Gazans? Their food supply is vastly insecure and they are living in dilapidated tents battered by winter wind and rainstorms. To call for a two-state solution now seems deliberately ill timed, in view of the brutal military continuing the genocide in Gaza and over 800,000 messianic Israeli settlers living illegally in the West Bank, and with more settlements constantly being built.

Palestinians will never end their resistance to occupation. Oppressed human beings will always resist their oppressors until they are free. For over 100 years Palestinians have been resisting their oppressors. A new film is out called “Palestine 36,” which recounts the revolt over British rule in Palestine in the 1930’s. Quite a powerful and informative film. Find it and watch it if you want to learn more about the history of resistance to colonialism in Palestine.

Our collective work to help liberate Palestine touches all the other unjust issues in our community and our world, because all injustices are connected. That’s why we will not rest, nor ever give up hope until Palestine is free. Justice is on our side and Palestine will be free! Inshallah.

This article is published in partnership with the Peace Press Collective. Minor formatting and typographic adjustments have been made for web presentation; the content and meaning have not been altered.