The day after Thanksgiving, feeling an increasingly unfamiliar sense of hope, I wrote Rep. Elise Stefanik a letter urging her to support the extension of the truce between Israel and Hamas which had begun that morning. With nearly 70% of Americans supporting a ceasefire (about 80% of Democrats, and half of Republicans), and Netanyahu himself opening the possibility for an extension of the truce, I felt it was something Stefanik might support while still upholding her one true conviction: Pleasing the far right Republican establishment. In her office’s 337-word response, the words “Palestine,” “Palestinians,” “Gaza,” or “Peace” did not appear even once. Those words no longer belong in her lexicon, if they ever did.

Writing letters and making phone calls to representatives matters, but reading this canned, party-line, pro-zionist response on the eve of the truce ending was demoralizing. I yearned for other means of peaceful protest against what an overwhelming majority of Americans view as a brutal, indiscriminate and unceasing punishment on a population fenced into an ever-shrinking space roughly the size of Biden’s home state. Is there anything that those of us who still believe in peace and coexistence can do to protest the violence wrought by zionism in an effective way? Or rather, is there even a way to protest what is happening to the people of Gaza without engendering scorn, punishment or violence from Netanyahu’s defenders?

The movement of Boycott Divestment and Sanctions began nearly 20 years ago, and in that time has been almost totally extinguished by lobbying groups, the complicity of American institutions, and the state of Israel. BDS is “a modern, grassroots nonviolent movement inspired by a 2005 call from a long and diverse list of Palestinian civil society organizations.” It was a direct economic action meant to convince Israel to radically alter its policies in explicit ways (such as stopping the expansion of Jewish-only settlements into the West Bank and ending the discrimination toward Arab citizens living within Israel). In America and Israel, BDS is mostly known today by the draconian policies put in place to prevent its spread and implementation, showing how zionism’s champions respond with total fear and outrage to non-violent forms of protest.

Nonviolent protest has for almost a century been core to the Palestinian struggle, yet it is too often met with disrespect if not sheer brutality, such as the 2019 Great March of Return in which thousands of Palestinians peacefully marched to the border to communicate their suffering and hope for salvation to the world and to Israel, who responded by permitting snipers to pick off protesters the second a stone was thrown against the gate. Hundreds of Palestinians (46 of them kids) were killed by the IDF during those demonstrations. Thousands were injured (8,800 of them kids).

Nonviolent protest in America now faces the same threat of harsh reaction from defenders of zionism. On Nov. 15, a peaceful demonstration at the Capitol demanding a ceasefire was met with an escalating police presence, citizens being pepper-sprayed, thrown down stairs and labeled “pro-terrorist” by members of the Democratic party.

For the protectors of zionism, peaceful protests at college campuses are seen as another venue where punishment is necessary. Because politicians have chosen to define certain slogans and terminology in the most bad-faith and negative way possible, they point to students chanting and say they must be punished. That was what Stefanik demanded of the presidents of three Ivy League schools last week when she harangued them for not doing enough to stop students from using certain language. What does Stefanik’s ideal punishment look like? I truly hope it’s only an academic punishment (does she want students who say “Intifada” to be expelled?) and not what punishment for student protests against war looked like in 1970. But that’s the central problem with seeking to punish peaceful protest: It pushes the protesters farther to edges, forces them to use stronger language, take more forceful steps in order to believe change is possible. And, if you’re living in a population experiencing genocide, how many times must your peaceful efforts be met with punishment before you find yourself left with only the taking up of arms? I don’t condone violence of any kind and condemn the atrocities committed by Hamas on Oct. 7, but as a life-long pacifist in search of effective means for peaceful protest, I don’t see many possibilities.

I find it disgusting that Stefanik’s charade on Dec. 5 is being viewed as a victory as presidents cave to her demand for the violation of free speech. I find it insulting that she plans to expand these investigations into “antisemitism” on campuses. Is that what we need from her right now? Antisemitism is a serious problem that demands attention, respect and vigilant opposition — but I must repeat what millions of people and have been saying for weeks: Anti-zionism is not antisemitism. Anti-zionism is about criticizing the policies of the government and military forces in charge of Israel, and the U.S.’s role in enabling those policies. It’s what’s at the root of peaceful protests we see happening today, and it continues to be met with opposition, punishment and too often violence.

On the morning of the Palestinian General Strike calling for a one-day cessation of economic activity and solidarity with the civilians in Gaza, the Washington Post reported that Israel used deadly white phosphorous in Lebanon in October and it obtained the chemical weapon from the U.S. This is what protestors, letter writers and boycotters are looking to put an end to: The unlimited military support for Israel’s war efforts, settler expansions and Palestinian oppression. What do we get instead? Censure, arrests, beatings, the erasure of Palestine, and Biden’s $14.3 billion increase in military aid to Israel, on top of the $130 billion we’ve supplied over the last 75 years.

Let peace be possible. My message to Stefanik, Schumer, Gillibrand and Biden: Listen to what we’re saying. Stop pouring all your time and energy into shutting us up.

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Tyler Barton lives in Saranac Lake.

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Sources

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“US public support for Israel drops; majority backs a ceasefire, Reuters/Ipsos shows” Reuters. Web. Nov. 15, 2023.

Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics by Marc Lamont Hill and Mitchell Plitnick. The New Press. 2021.

“Two Years On: People Injured and Traumatized During the “Great March of Return” are Still Struggling” – United Nations. Web. April 2020.

“Questioning University Presidents on Antisemitism, Stefanik Goes Viral” Annie Karni. New York Times. Dec. 7, 2023.

“Kent State Shootings” Web article on Wikipedia.

“Israel used U.S.-supplied white phosphorus in Lebanon attack that a rights group says should be investigated as a war crime” By William Christou, Alex Horton and Meg Kelly, Washington Post, Dec. 11, 2023.

“What to know about U.S. aid to Israel” Axios. Jacob Knutson, Nov. 4 2023