Abdul El-Sayed: We Are Subsidizing Israel, Unconditionally, Buying Bombs and Tanks that Have Been Used To Do Genocide and Apartheid

EXCERPT:

EL-SAYED: “I was really privileged to grow up in a community where about 40 percent of my high school class was Jewish. I grew up going to synagogue, going to Seder, going to bar and bat mitzvahs growing up. I have so much respect for the Jewish faith and Jewish contributions to American life. I also know what it’s like to be discriminated against for how I pray, and I want an America where nobody is discriminated against under our Constitution. You can pray as you choose to pray or not pray at all. The idea that anybody should feel unsafe in their synagogue or their day school to me is anathema. I know what it’s like to drop off my kids to a mosque and wonder if they’re going to be safe and I’m going to be able to pick them up safely afterwards. I think we are all united in the work of making sure that no matter who you are, you are safe in this country and I’m committed to the safety of Jewish children like I’m committed to safety of my own children. I think a lot of the issue was more about the government of Israel and our posture toward that government. But I want to ask us this. We spend billions of dollars subsidizing a foreign government unconditionally, buying bombs and tanks that have been used to do genocide and apartheid and make war we have no business fighting. And we’re told that if you want to stand up against the murder of innocent Palestinian children that that’s somehow about hate for anybody. It’s not about hate for anybody. It’s about equal love for those Palestinian children as you would have for a Jewish child growing up in the Holy Land. And my approach to foreign policy is simple. We should be the first among equals to uphold international law. But we have ran roughshod over the notion of what was done to Gaza as if that’s not the central question. But like we’re not that far. I mean, it’s still ongoing. You’re still talking about apartheid policy in the West Bank. You’re still talking about the ongoing disruption of access to basic resources in Gaza. You’re still talking about a genocide. But nobody wants to say that.”