American citizens are risking their lives aboard the civilian ship Handala, sailing in international waters with food, baby formula, and medical supplies for starving Palestinians in Gaza. And what is your response? Silence.
The Handala, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, is a direct challenge to Israel’s barbaric and illegal siege of Gaza—a siege that has murdered children by starvation and bombed aid convoys into rubble. And instead of defending the rights and lives of your own citizens aboard this humanitarian mission, you continue to arm and fund the very government that threatens to intercept and possibly attack them.
Let me be perfectly clear: I am not asking. I am demanding that you defend the American activists aboard the Handala—including human rights attorney Huwaida Arraf—and use every diplomatic and political tool at your disposal to ensure their safety and mission success.
If Israel intercepts, sabotages, or harms anyone on that ship, it will be with the complicity of the U.S. government unless you act now.
The Israeli government has already seized one flotilla ship in international waters this year, committing piracy and detaining peaceful activists. They have dropped starvation leaflets while blocking aid trucks and targeting food queues. These are war crimes. These are crimes against humanity. And you—through your inaction—are complicit.
Do you stand for international law and basic human decency? Or will you, once again, cower behind hollow talking points while Americans are threatened and Palestinians are exterminated?
Rep. Rashida Tlaib has the moral clarity and courage to call this what it is: genocide. You should listen to her. She has warned you that U.S. weapons and U.S. dollars are facilitating war crimes. She has called out your failure to protect even Palestinian American citizens from settler violence. And she’s right. Your silence is not neutrality—it is betrayal.
I demand the following:
• Immediate U.S. diplomatic protection for every American aboard the Handala.
• A public statement condemning any attempt by Israel to intercept or attack the flotilla.
• An end to U.S. funding and weapons transfers to Israel until the siege on Gaza is lifted.
• Support for international investigations into Israel’s crimes, including attacks on aid missions and the intentional use of starvation as a weapon.
Every moment you delay, more children die. More Americans are put at risk. And the world watches as you prioritize Israel’s impunity over your own citizens’ safety and humanity itself.
History will remember who stood up—and who stayed silent.
Enough is enough. Do your damn job.
First sent on July 25 by BlueCollarJew
