This from Steering Committee member, Crystal Zevon:
Friends,
I am asking you to PLEASE click on this link and at the very least, read this one family’s story. Helping one family is something concrete. A small group of us have been working for months to find a way to help this family stay alive. Finally, the only solution is to get them out of Gaza which is no small task. Finally, after letters to embassies, calls to congress, pleas to organizations, we have found a route. I cannot talk about all the details, but we have found a way. It, of course, has a cost. Any amount will help. $5 or $500 (or more!) adds up. Time is short. They are starving. Before you delete this message, just go to the site. Please. https://gofund.me/43edaa23
In peace and solidarity,
Crystal
Crystal's friend and kids in Gaza (please click on sound to enable)
Read their story, in their own words, at Crystal's link https://gofund.me/43edaa23
vpac encourages its members to go to (Vermonters for Justice in Palestine) vtjp.org and if you are not already, sign up for our Bulletin announcing local actions (on our Contact Us page).
A FEW LETTERS FROM OUR MEMBERS:
To the editor 10/22/2023 Times Argus/Rutland Herald
The “war” in Gaza seems similar to the oppression of the Indigenous people in this country. The extensive injustice to the American Indians was basically done because we wanted their land for “our” people. The people in Gaza have endured the current death and destruction caused by over a thousand US/Israel bombs dropped or fired per day on a densely populated area of over two million people, half of whom are children. This continued bombing process has thus far killed over 700 (now 7000) innocent children and is apparently done to clear-the-land for “their” people and to extract revenge for the Hamas attack. Is the pro-Israel/anti-Palestinian political alignment in Washington a requirement for members of congress to retain their congressional seats? Does this political alignment override any empathy or concern they might have for the dead and damaged Gazan children living through this ongoing nightmare?
William Rice Randolph Center, VT
AND
Israeli Influence - Times Argus/Rutland Herald To the Editor, 1/5/2024
First, it is encouraging to see objective reporting on the Israeli/Gaza conflict by such Jewish journalists as Glen Greenwald, Aaron Mate, Katie Halper, Max Blumenthal, and Gideon Levy, as well as Amy Goodman of “Democracy Now.” It is said that truth is the first casualty of war, and the news concerning the Hamas attack on October 7 is no different. What we do know is that Gaza is a densely populated 25-mile-long strip of land that Israel would like to accumulate. Gaza is often referred to as an “open air prison” which has been subjected to Israel’s apartheid and intermittent bombing for years. To many, the October 7 tragedy was an organized prison revolt, a commando-style raid to obtain as many Israeli hostages as possible as quickly as possible to be traded for some of the 4500 Palestinians (including 160 children) imprisoned by Israel. Of the 1200 Israelis killed on October 7, it has been reported that 350 were Israeli soldiers and one was a young child. Some were reportedly killed by the Israeli soldiers themselves firing from tanks and American-supplied Apache helicopters. Why is our government so supportive of Israel as it illegally levels a country slaughtering its population? Why do we keep giving Israel $3.5 billion plus each year? The apparent reason is that pro-Israel lobby groups such as AIPAC (American Israeli Political Action Committee) finance pro-Israel/anti-Palestine U.S. congressional (and presidential) campaigns, especially in swing states. As evidence of how well the AIPAC type donation system has worked for Israel, consider Prime Minister Netanyahu’s March 2, 2015, speech before a joint session of congress. During his 43- minute speech Netanyahu received over 20 standing ovations, mostly for each verbal attack against Iran, as the cameras slowly panned his audience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRf1cdw4IAY Another example occurred many years earlier on October 3, 2001, shortly after 9/11. In a reported acrimonious exchange during an Israeli cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reportedly yelled at his Foreign Minister Shimon Peres “Don’t worry about American pressure, we, the Jewish people control America, and the Americans know it.” The U.S. government funding of weapons and other support for Israel’s attack on Gaza and the West Bank makes us accomplices to the murder of over 8,000 Palestinian children – CHILDREN! I hope people will keep all this in mind during the 2024 election year.
William Rice Randolph Center, VT

