Our tax dollars fund Israel's genocide in Gaza. Every American should care.
For nearly two years, the world has watched the decades-old conflict between Israel and Palestine evolve into an increasingly brutal war. Hamas-led militants killed more than 1,200 people – mostly civilians – on Oct. 7, 2023, and took 251 hostage – including Americans. Today, 50 hostages remain captive in Gaza, though Israel believes only 20 of them are alive.
More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting erupted, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government. More than 145,000 have been wounded and 90% of the population has been displaced. Half of those killed and injured are women and children, the ministry says.
Those who've managed to live through the war are facing new threats to their survival: Starvation has swept through Gaza, with half a million people affected by famine-like conditions, according to the World Food Program. Polluted aquifers and broken pipelines leave safe drinking water scarce. Since May, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed trying to access food.
On July 28, two Israeli human rights groups released statements saying the country was committing genocide in Gaza, echoing declarations previously made by Amnesty International and a United Nations special committee. On Aug. 8, Israel approved a plan for the Israel Defense Forces to take control of Gaza City.
Twenty-two months ago, that October day lit aflame deeply rooted hostilities, igniting new tensions in neighboring countries and across oceans: On college campuses, in public streets and on social media platforms. It's a war that has divided families, friends and even the Republican and Democratic parties. USA TODAY columnists and contributors have covered this issue from many sides – including inside and outside of Gaza itself. But we hadn't heard from you, until now.
We wanted to know your opinions. For our next installment of Forum, we asked: Are you concerned about the developing situation in Gaza? Should the U.S. send more aid to Gaza? To Israel? Is the news media's coverage getting it right or wrong? What could finally end this conflict? Here's what you said.
I've seen Israelis and Palestinians coexist. It's the only thing that gives me hope.
I want to be clear that I am pro-peace. I lived in Israel for many years, and I saw coexistence every single day. I lived it. It might be the only reason I have any hope left.
On any public bus, you might see a soldier standing next to a woman in a hijab next to a Hasidic man next to a guy with a mohawk next to a Druze family. And thousands of Israelis have been protesting the government for years, before Oct. 7, 2023.
The difference is that they have the freedom to do so without fear or repercussion. Gazans do not have that same luxury. Openly protesting Hamas means death or worse. And yet many of them have, because they have nothing more to lose. Which is why it's disgusting and sad that news coverage has been minuscule, and people in the West, most of them the descendants of colonizers themselves, feel the need to call Hamas "resistance fighters" and advocate for the destruction of a country they can't even find on a map.
What about the hostages, who are also starving? What about how Hamas has weaponized starvation and does not care for its people? What about how Hamas has looted aid and funneled donations to line the pockets of their own leaders? The United States should do more to help dismantle Hamas, in addition to criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and actively trying to end this war.
The United States should focus on supporting peace-building coalitions, accountability and support for Israel's population (which includes Israeli Arabs, who make up about 20% of the population) – but also help the Palestinians in finding a path forward without Hamas or Islamic jihad or similar leadership. There is not enough focus on the day after the war, especially when it comes to dismantling Hamas, reeducation and supporting efforts to pivot Netanyahu's right-wing government, which is adding fuel to the fire.
The United States should do more to combat antisemitism, which has skyrocketed here and globally. Antisemitism has risen globally by 340% since the start of this war, and it's no coincidence. We need help combating false narratives that restrict empathy. This is a national concern as well as a global one that does not help either Israelis or Palestinians, or Jews across the world.
I think there should be a Palestinian state at some point, but it should not be created as a knee-jerk reaction to this terrible war. If anything, this should give everyone pause. It will take years of peace-building coalitions and mapping out a sustainable plan to actually make this work.
I'm a father in Gaza. My children wake in the middle of the night crying for food. | Opinion
Another view: Western nations want a Palestinian state. But Arab nations keep their distance. | Opinion
Celebrities are nothing but armchair activists who are also responsible for spreading misinformation and false narratives. They add fuel to the fire, and their commentary actually leads to violence and sows division.
There is blatant skewing of the narrative, including reporting Hamas figures as facts when many of the numbers of the dead include combatants. Everyone blames Israel and seems to cast Hamas in the light of "resistance" and "freedom fighters" even when they are the ones responsible for the violence, sexual assault, torture and kidnapping that have defined this war.
Why has no one reported on the protests in Gaza against Hamas, which killed and tortured Gaza civilians for protesting? Why has no one focused on the plight of the remaining hostages who are also starving? Why has no one highlighted where Hamas leaders have been – safe in Qatar and other countries?
— Elle Brooke, West Bloomfield, Michigan
Our tax dollars are funding a genocide. Every American should care about that.
The United States is aiding Israel in committing genocide. Through the U.S. support, Israel is starving hundreds of thousands of families.
America has criticized organizations doing real work and feeding people. It has instead supported an organization, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, whose 'distribution sites' saw the slaughtering of Palestinian families with the aid of mercenaries and the genocidal Israel Defense Forces.
Cracking down on public criticism of Israel and support of Gaza under the false guise of addressing antisemitism has made a mockery of actual antisemitism. President Donald Trump is using it as a false way to challenge universities and shut down free speech in the name of addressing antisemitism, but truthfully, he is just engaging in fascism.
The United States must recognize a Palestinian state – and with recognition there needs to be an end to the occupation, the right to return and justice for the people of Palestine and the thousands of Palestinians harmed, killed and starved.
Every person should care about genocide. Everyone – celebrity, politician and everyday person – should care about genocide. Every one of us must speak up and take action immediately. Because, as U.S. taxpayers, our dollars go to supporting Israel, we should get a say in how those dollars are used.
— Ella Mendonsa, Washington, DC
I feel for innocent Palestinians. But as a Jew, I know we can't have a two-state solution.
It's all very complicated, and I'm not an expert, but if you have Hamas intentionally preventing aid from getting to the population in order to prolong their own lies, I'm not sure any country can help to the capacity that it should and could.
I'm not a Trump supporter at all, but at least he has taken steps to show that, as a democracy, we support democracy. Israel is the only country in the Middle East that is a democracy. So I think the Trump administration's support of Israel is refreshing compared with prior ones.
What can anyone do when Iranian-backed, Hamas-linked organizations fill the news with grotesque lies and omissions of the truth? This is not about the innocent Palestinians, many of whom are afraid of Hamas. This is about Hamas using its own population for propaganda.
Don't get me wrong. I care and feel for the Palestinians suffering. But as a Jew, I have to care about the fact that the entire raison d'être and mantra of Hamas is to kill all Jews and destroy the land of Israel.
There is no longer a chance for a two-state solution. Israel has tried over and over to offer paths to this and to show that we can live peacefully with Arabs and Palestinians. We cannot offer this in the face of a Hamas-led government that specifically and openly states that its members would like to see Israel wiped off the map. How could Israel trust them when they savagely killed people who lived near the border and who were reaching out across the border and helping Palestinians?
It's fair to say innocent people are suffering, but the news media is biased toward the Palestinian plight as opposed to showing that Israel has tried numerous times to make peace, only to have its own people suffer. Would you tear down a barrier in your backyard if you knew your neighbors would do anything to break in to your house and try to kill you? Honestly.
Israel has never gone to war with any country out of hatred for human beings or religion. It's always on the defensive, and in the end, it's always blamed. But let's not forget that the Jewish people have endured thousands of years of antisemitism from every corner of the earth, and we're still standing.
— Deena Thomas, Memphis, Tennessee
We've given billions to fund this war. It's time Trump leverages it for peace.
We give billions in military aid to Israel every year, some of which was used for good purposes against Iran, but also at least some of which was used to cause this starvation crisis. It seems like the least we could do would be to help save the lives of civilians there.
The Biden administration launched the first national strategy to combat antisemitism. But now Trump is just using antisemitism as an excuse to go after his political enemies on issues like immigration and diversity, equity and inclusion.
I know that many people on both sides complain about the media attention, but the fact is that billions of American taxpayer dollars are involved here, so it's fully legitimate for the media to be focusing on this.
The two-state solution is the least impossible of all the impossible options to end this conflict. And we could be doing much more to support the Israelis, especially the hostage families, protesting against Netanyahu's disastrous policies. Just a week ago, an organization of retired Israeli generals called for an end to the war. We should applaud France and Saudi Arabia for seeking to advance the two-state solution and for persuading the entire Arab League to condemn Hamas as it did last week.
— Matthew Weinstein, Baltimore
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