JOSHUA FEINSTEIN: Thank you, Anastasia. It’s really good to see you. I won’t use the word happy, but it’s good to be here today, especially with, although it is mixed news coming out from the ICJ, the decision to move forward is welcome. This is historic.
So, what I’d like to do over the next few minutes is just discuss with you all Israel’s war on Gaza with a perspective from American Jewry. As Anastasia mentioned, my name is Joshua Feinstein; I am a proud Jewish-American who is the son of a Holocaust survivor. So, our collective history—that of the Jewish people—instills with us this profound understanding of when one group is targeted for extermination. Today, that is just what we are witnessing. War, oppression, and horrors inflicted on the innocent people of Gaza.
So, bear with me as I give you a quick recount of first hand experience. Earlier this month, I was in my in-laws’ living room, a world away, in Beirut, Lebanon, when a missile fired by the Israeli military struck one of the residential buildings down from our home. As usual, the neighboring government felt they were entitled to ignore international law and the sovereignty of another nation. My reaction was, I swiftly got up; I checked on my family to make sure everyone was OK. I turned to my father-in-law, and I said, “Can you believe this?” His response to the danger was that he was unfazed, like most people in the region. They are so used to the Israelis invading and attacking civilians with impunity, there is a sense of entitlement, arrogance, and callousness in the Israeli government mindset. I look at, on the other hand, there is this incredible resilience in the people of the Levant. They have this inner strength and determination that’s been sharpened by decades of enduring the threat of Israeli aggression as a part of everyday life.
So, make no mistake; that attack in Beirut was nothing compared to the torment that is being inflicted on the innocent people of Gaza. Today, we are witnessing the subjugation and ethnic cleansing in Palestine that is on par with the Holocaust. It is on par with South Africa’s apartheid, and with 400 years of oppression right here in America.
I know you all are aware that as of today, 25,000 souls in Gaza have been murdered by the Israeli military. And as you all know, it is my government, the United States government, that provides the overwhelming funding for those atrocities. We have given $317.9 billion to Israel; that’s $317.9 billion with a “B”; barely any questions asked. It’s just incredible what we could have done with this money. With $16 billion, we could have provided healthcare to millions of low-income families. With $35 billion, we could have delivered healthcare for everyone who is uninsured in the U.S. With $20 billion, we could actually have ended homelessness here in America. Instead, our money is being sent overseas. So, while we struggle with no funding for housing, healthcare, clean water, and education, our money is busy being spent bombing the children of Gaza.
