Restoring accountability
From the halls of the UN to the editorial pages of our newspapers, there is a great deal of concern around the world today about the future of the international order built in the aftermath of World War Two. Our current president’s aggressive, bullying words and actions have brought these concerns to the foreground, but for those of us who have been watching the ongoing Genocide in Gaza for the last two plus years, they are not breaking news. The ongoing failure of the “Rules Based Order” recently found a potent symbol in the demolition of the East Jerusalem UNWRA compound by the Israeli authorities on January 20th, an event which largely passed without comment in the western press.
The Apartheid Free Communities movement is a small way for us as citizens to start rebuilding systems of accountability that uphold the universality of Human Rights. Palestinians have been the exception to Human Rights protections for far too long, in large part due to our financial and political support of the Israeli Apartheid system and military occupation.
Since the international system has proven itself utterly useless to prevent Genocide, ethnic cleansing and other atrocities in Palestine, I believe the responsibility falls on us as citizens of conscience in a free society to attempt to restore accountability. Many have started to take action in their personal lives, for example by trying to ensure that their purchases and investments are not supporting crimes against humanity in Palestine or anywhere else. We are also asking our institutions, such as universities, private businesses and municipalities to do the same. This is both a right and an obligation for us as Americans: to accept our responsibility for the injustices that we underwrite. In the words of longtime Hartford resident Mohsen Mahdawi “To create an apartheid free community is to make the world a better place by loving justice and sanctioning unjust systems. This is how we make peace. This is how we renew faith in humanity. This is how we uphold democracy.” In Hartford on March 3, please vote Yes on Article 30