Pat Taub
Dear Women in Gaza,
I need for you to understand that while my government has supplied Israel with deadly weapons that have killed your children, husbands, mothers. fathers, siblings and others close to you, along with dedicated doctors, nurses and journalists, the majority of Americans do not support this policy.
We anguish over the horrors you have suffered and continue to suffer, as you face the prospect of even more unimaginable losses through constant bombing and starvation.
A young mother in Rafah holding the corpse of her martyred child
Every morning I follow the news reports from Gaza and weep over the worsening conditions you confront from daily bombings, food shortages, undrinkable water, and a lack of medical care.
In the face of these horrific circumstances you work to comfort your traumatized children and grandchildren. It’s especially difficult at night when they are gripped with night terrors, kept awake by the unrelenting drones encircling them.
A mother and daughter after surviving the bombing of their home in Khan Younis
My love for you stretches into the far corners of your tents as you scrimp together a few vegetables for the first meal in days for your family, as you sing traditional songs of courage to boost your children’s spirits, while softly crying yourself to sleep each night.
My love for you propels me to march with fellow Americans to protest Biden’s unilateral support of the genocide that has taken the lives of so many of your family and friends. I stand and silently pray for you, wishing my prayers could travel all the way from Maine into your hearts in Gaza.
A large street protest in my home town of Portland, Maine, March, 2024 (Portland Press Herald)
My love for you fills me with outrage at the cruelty of my government that sadistically ignores the 15,000 Palestinian children killed by American bombs, and thousands more who lost limbs, while each surviving child will carry this trauma for the rest of their lives. I find it unconscionable that my tax dollars are supporting this genocide.
Gaza now has the largest population of child amputees in the world.
My love for your children–those martyred, those with missing limbs and those too shocked to speak–come to mind every time I see a healthy infant or child among my neighbors. I silently rail at the world’s injustice, “Why can’t Palestinian children be given the same chance to live in safety?”
While my government has no love in its hearts for the women and families in Gaza, it does not represent the growing number of Americans, boosted by our brave students, who have discovered a new love for Gazans. This love is forever implanted in our hearts.
A pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia Univ, which sparked the national movement in support of Gaza (The Guardian)
When this onslaught is finally ended, I long for the chance to meet you in person. I want to hug you and hold you and tell you how sorry I am that my government’s supplied bombs destroyed your families, homes, mosques, schools, universities and hospitals. I want to ask for your forgiveness and ask how I can help you go forward.
Martin Luther King, our beloved peace and justice leader, who was martyred like so many of your brave leaders, is remembered for his “I have a dream speech.” It contains the prayer, I have faith that “someday we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.” My love for you is rooted in this hope.
