This substack is not focused on current events, nor do I often comment directly on political or policy questions. That’s certainly not because I have no opinions on or interest in such topics, but because whatever (severely limited) expertise I may have is located in other quarters.
Even so, the horrific events that are ongoing in Gaza demand our attention and action. Of course, that has been the case ever since the Israel Defense Forces began operations in Gaza after the attacks on southern Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023. I have hesitated to use my (admittedly very small) platform here to address the war in Gaza for many reasons, but today I want to add my voice to those calling for an end to the IDF’s military operations in, and blockade of, Gaza.
As an American, I do think I have a special responsibility to speak on this issue because my government provides significant funding for, and weapons to, the IDF; when civilians are killed in Gaza, it is often with American-made ammunition purchased with American tax dollars. To that end, I have written a letter to my two senators and one representative in the US Congress. I have submitted this letter to each Congressperson via their own website, and reproduce it here as an open letter.1
In many ways, I can only feel shame that I have not talked about the horrors that have unfolded in Gaza sooner and more often. Apart from occasionally sharing articles written by others both here on Substack and (even less often) on Facebook, I have really only spoken directly about the conflict once, last year in a sermon on Pentecost in which I called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The reality is that my voice in this debate is, of course, very minor—to the point of being imperceptible. But we all have a duty to speak the truth about what can only be called a genocide against the Palestinian people.
The aforementioned open letter to my Congressional representation is reproduced below, with multiple links to evidence supporting the concerns I raise. Please feel free to share it, or use it as a template for your own communications, if you so desire.
May God have mercy on us all.
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Dear Senators Alsobrooks and Van Hollen, and Representative Olszewski,
After Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, the US government rightly condemned their killing of hundreds of Israeli civilians. Since that date, the Israel Defense Forces have been active in Gaza, and though their stated goal is to destroy Hamas and secure the return of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, the IDF has killed, at least, tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians. I believe that we must condemn the killing of civilians, no matter what government or organization is responsible. All nations, administrations, and organizations must be held to the same standards.
The need to hold the leadership of Israel and especially its armed forces to accountability is only growing. As I am sure you are aware, the Netanyahu administration has announced plans to forcibly relocate all civilians in Gaza to a small area around Rafah and has indicated it will treat any person outside of this zone as a combatant. Meanwhile, the nearly complete blockade of Gaza since March of this year has left the population there critically low on food, medicine, and fuel. There are well-documented reports of children suffering from severe malnutrition, in addition to many children having been killed by IDF attacks on civilians. Indeed, even where aid has been distributed in the last few weeks, both IDF servicemembers as well as private security forces have fired on and killed hundreds of civilians who were trying to access that aid.
It must be noted that the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza are clearly definable as war crimes, a point that Eyal Benvenisti, a lawyer who has represented Israel before the International Criminal Court, recently made clear in an article in Haaretz that was published in English at Just Security.
As you know, the US government provides significant funding for the state of Israel to purchase arms, and indeed American-manufactured munitions and weapon systems are the backbone of the IDF’s combat materiel. Our nation has a special responsibility to ensure that our government funding, and weapons produced in our country, are not being used in ways that are both illegal and immoral.
I urge you to work with other members of Congress to not only publicly condemn those actions by the Israeli government that are in violation of international law but to also take steps to prevent US funds and US-produced weapons from being made available to the IDF, unless and until they abide by international law in the occupied territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
I am glad that you have been quick to condemn illegal and immoral actions by Hamas. I ask that you apply the same standards of behavior to the current Israeli administration.
Very Sincerely,
The Rev. L. Scott Lipscomb
Baltimore, MD
In my emails to Senators Alsobrooks and Van Hollen, the links were included in-line with the text. My email to Representative Olszewski had to be shortened as his office has a 2,000 character limit on emails sent through his website. This meant I had to reduce the language of the letter itself and that I was not able to include the relevant links in that email.