Author: Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity

Artist Mahasen Ktheeb – killed by Israeli Occupation Forces in Gaza, December 2024

The genocide of the Palestinian people has reached unprecedented levels. Israel’s military assault on Gaza has killed tens of thousands of people and destroyed 90 % of the structures of Gaza: homes, apartment buildings, cultural centers, religious institutions, hospitals, schools, roads, fuel and water stations and farm land. The remaining displaced civilian population struggles to survive an ongoing intentionally engineered starvation campaign which is depriving children, newborns and adults of the essential right to eat food and drink water. The four food distribution stations paid for by our tax money and serviced by US mercenaries are “designed as death traps.” This is a violent act of terror that has been widely condemned by the international community. 

Many within the Israeli government continue to articulate their genocidal intentions of “erasing the Gaza Strip from the face of the earth” and Prime Minister Netanyahu, a war criminal, denies starvation is taking place. While the UN and human rights organizations within and outside Israel condemn the ongoing genocide, America continues to provide military, political and financial support for continued war crimes against a vulnerable civilian population. Israel has received more than $300 billion in US aid, much of which bankrolls the brutal occupation and murder of the indigenous population in Gaza and the West Bank.   

The unbearable trauma inflicted on the Palestinian people affects us all. Our shared faith leads us to see humanity as one family in the eyes of our creator. The Quran and Talmud teach that whoever kills a soul, it’s as if they killed the entire world, and whoever saves a soul, it is as if they saved the entire world. An entire universe is being destroyed. 

The Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity calls on all people of conscience to exercise the tools of our democracy while they are still available. We are responsible for the actions of our elected local and national leaders. We call on all Americans to demand that our government prioritize human rights and the preservation of life over the political alliances that perpetuate a large-scale, deliberate assault on immigrant populations in our own country. We call for an end to the genocide perpetrated upon the Palestinian people and we call for the implementation of the right of the Palestinians to return to their historic homeland.

Our beloved colleague Awdah Hathaleen, a 31-year-old father of three children and a prominent Palestinian activist featured in the film “No Other Land,” was assassinated July 28 by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Awdah’s name means “return” in Arabic. He embodies his family’s long held hope to return to their homeland. We demand that all Palestinian refugees be granted the right to return home and all US immigrants retain the right to remain safely in their homes without fear. 

Awdah Hathaleen  

Those who have ever wondered what they would have done had they lived during the Nazi holocaust need only look in the mirror and observe what they are doing today.  As survivors of unspeakable loss remind us, silence is complicity. As people of faith, we believe the preservation of human life, dignity and integrity requires us to raise our voices and take action today to stand firmly against genocide. 

Those who have ever wondered what they would have done had they lived during the Nazi holocaust need only look in the mirror and observe what they are doing today. As survivors of unspeakable loss remind us, silence is complicity. As people of faith, we believe the preservation of human life, dignity and integrity requires us to raise our voices and take action today to stand firmly against genocide. 

We ask you to turn your prayers into action in the following ways:  Call your Members of Congress

1. Demand the immediate defunding of the Gaza Humanitarian Relief Foundation which is committing war crimes and the refunding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine.

2. Call your representatives to demand the Israeli government return his body to the family. Awdeh Hathaleen’s body has not been returned to his family, and the Israeli government is refusing to release it or allow the family to decide where he should be buried.