All Wisconsin Eyes On Gaza and the West Bank
Over the course of the writing of this article the past few days, israel seized the Freedom Flotilla ship “Madleen” and detained its crew, caused a full blackout of the internet in Gaza, and attacked Iran.
It’s been over 77 years of the ongoing Nakba, the Catastrophe. It’s been just over 20 months since the October 7th, 2023 Operation Al-Aqsa Flood brought the israeli occupation of Gaza into mainstream global media (to a certain extent). Since then, israel has continued to escalate genocide, which most media is too cowardly to name. We now know without a doubt that it’s israel’s intention to implement a final solution to “level all of Gaza.” The occupied West Bank also continues to experience extreme violence at the hands of israeli settlers.
What does this have to do with Wisconsin? Although the core answer is that freeing Palestine and fighting genocide and colonization across the world is an ethical obligation for every single one of us as human beings, there are also specific reasons why we Wisconsinites should be paying attention, taking action and demanding our leadership make a stand. Genocide must be the red line here and everywhere.
Wisconsin-Palestine Connections
While this short article cannot capture all the ways in which Wisconsin is connected to Palestine and Palestinians, we will use our platform to shine some light on those we are aware of.
There are over 2,500 Palestinian Americans living in Wisconsin as friends, neighbors, coworkers, healthcare providers, artists, local business owners, and more - for whom the occupation of Palestine looms daily.
In 2022, 78 year old Palestinian-American and long-time Milwaukee resident Omar Assad was found dead in the West Bank after being detained by the israeli military. While his children and family here in Wisconsin called for justice, the soldiers involved faced no criminal charges.
Many Palestinians in Wisconsin have been and continue to organize, educating all of us on the history of US complicity in the occupation of Palestine and the current genocide, and calling for change. The Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine has united over 50 diverse organizations across the state in calling for a free Palestine.
Pro-Palestine Wisconsinites across all backgrounds show up and visibly support actions in Milwaukee and Madison and elsewhere in the state, connecting the struggles of Palestine with those of Black Americans, indigenous peoples, immigrants, LGBTQIA, and more. From George Floyd Day to Pride to No Kings, keffiyehs, Palestinian flags, and invited speakers remind us that no one is free until we all are free.
Wisconsinites are currently working in various political ways to support Palestinian safety:
Rep. Mark Pocan has co-sponsored the “Block the Bombs” bill, H.R.3565
There is a growing movement to get back the First Amendment right to boycott without penalty in Wisconsin, through the group Wisconsin Right 2 Boycott https://linktr.ee/wiright2boycott.
Milwaukee-based Lockheed-Martin subsidiary Derco is being held accountable for its war-profiteering. Milwaukee4Palestine is leading the #DisarmDerco campaign, including making sure they cannot pinkwash their crimes.
Palestine at the WISDEMS Convention
You’ve taken the time to read this far, hopefully clicking through some links and learning something new and further distancing yourself from the genocide deniers in our communities. There is no way to be neutral during the extermination of entire people and it is that simple: to not actively fight genocide is to be pro-genocide, and there are those in the Democratic Party who fall into that camp. At the Milwaukee Beagle, we believe that electoral politics plays some role in our lives and the changes we want to see, and so we will have eyes on the WISDEMS convention this weekend.
First, we thank Rep. Pocan for championing the Block the Bombs bill, and demand that Rep. Gwen Moore sign on. Second, we’re asking: where do the three men running for state party chair, these leaders and party influencers, stand on Palestinian solidarity and naming genocide? Who can we trust to lead the state and change the status quo, holding Democratic Party candidates to the platform the people have called for rather than letting the donors dictate who gets which resources?
From what we’ve seen, we feel there is a clear top choice in William Garcia as the delegates head into the ranked choice voting.
Here’s why:
Garcia supports a ceasefire, has named the genocide as such, and has voiced support for upholding the party’s platform around Palestine. As early as October 30th 2023, he was holding Wisconsin politicians accountable for dehumanizing the Palestinian people.
Meanwhile, Zepecki has verbally indicated support for a ceasefire in public and did acknowledge the concept of genocide while talking with Dan Shafer, but in a both-sidesing, let’s-bring-everyone-together way that is naive at best.
At the bottom, Remiker has said nothing on Palestine that we could find, and none of us gotany response to asking his (presumably expensive) outreach staff about the genocide. But we did find these positions from people endorsing him:
Rep. Gwen Moore has told her constituents that she will not agree to supporting resolutions that block further weapon sales to Israel because such resolutions have little support. There is no lack of support.
Former party chair Ben Wickler is on the record as supporting a “big tent” approach to include both Israeli and Palestinian voices, and we could find no mention or report of naming the genocide for what it is.
