Presidential stances on Israel disallow democratic function
Aiden is a sophomore studying Philosophy and Media & Communication. He is an editor for the Marlin Chronicle. Aiden’s opinions do not necessarily reflect that of the Marlin Chronicle.
Today, America faces a historically divisive election. Many people feel very strongly towards or against both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. However, in this election, a significant portion of Americans feel like their political needs aren’t being met. This is a symptom of a government that does not function democratically, and resuses to stop funding an outright genocide committed by Israel in Palestine.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the intensification of the conflict on Oct. 7. However, a study done by The Lancet, a peer-reviewed medical journal, finds that the death toll in Gaza could be over 186,000 due to uncounted deaths, such as bodies buried by rubble. With Gaza’s population being 2.27 million before Oct. 7, this means that Israel has killed at least between 1.76% and 8.19% of Gaza’s population. These deaths are completely unacceptable. No country has the right to kill innocent people, especially such a staggering number.
Mars Johnson|Marlin Chronicle
As of the end of 2023, 1.7 million Palestinians in Gaza, or 83% of Gaza’s population were internally displaced according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. According to Time Magazine, 70% of Gaza’s homes have been damaged or destroyed, meaning that a majority of Gazans will never be able to simply return to their homes as they once were.
These numbers also do not take into account Palestinians killed in the West Bank through settlement or military operations, which would bring the number of deaths and displacements even higher, as Israel has ramped up its military presence in the West Bank since Oct. 7.
It is my opinion that we need a ceasefire, and America needs to stop arming Israel in order to stop contributing to genocide. According to CBS and YouGov, 60% of Americans want to stop sending arms to Israel. If America truly functioned democratically we would have a popular candidate running on a platform of an arms embargo on Israel.
This leaves the American people without many options for stopping the genocide. There are third-party candidates who support stopping the genocide, such as Jill Stein, however, based on predicted results, a third-party candidate has an immensely low chance of winning the presidential election. It appears clear to me and to many Americans that voting does not reflect your values, especially now, when most mainstream American politicians are for the continuation of violent conflicts overseas and fight against our civil liberties here at home.
The question then arises, “What can we do?” Some options to encourage an end to the genocide are BDS (“Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions”), protesting and encouraging our institutions to withdraw support from Israel.
BDS is a movement to end support for Israel’s genocide on Palestine through boycotting companies that support Israel economically or provide weaponry for Israel, encouraging institutional divestment from Israel and advocating for sanctions against Israel. Some popular companies that are on the BDS list are Coca-Cola, Pepsi, McDonald’s and Puma. Other companies are pressure targets. Pressure targets are companies that hold large control over a market and may be difficult to boycott, but it is encouraged to advocate against these companies, which include Google, Disney and Amazon.
The genocide in Palestine and America’s support for it will be a stain forever on America’s history, and the longer we allow it to continue, the larger the stain grows.
By: Aiden Croghan
