1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

I write to you not as a partisan, not as a voice for one side or another, but as a human being compelled to speak on behalf of the voiceless, the bereaved, the bombed, and the buried. What is happening in Gaza is not merely a conflict. It is not a war in any conventional sense. It is, by every credible measure—legal, moral, and humanitarian—a genocide. And your silence, inaction, or continued material support for it makes our nation complicit in one of the most horrific mass atrocities of the 21st century. Over 35,000 Palestinians, the vast majority of them women and children, have been killed in Israel’s bombardment and invasion of Gaza. Entire families—generations—have been erased from civil records. More than 70% of housing units in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged. Over 1.7 million people, nearly the entire population, have been displaced. Starvation is being used as a weapon of war. Medical infrastructure has been annihilated. Ambulances have been shelled. Aid convoys have been bombed. Civilians seeking shelter in schools, hospitals, refugee camps, and so-called “safe zones” have been killed in what amounts to systematic annihilation. This is not collateral damage. This is not the fog of war. This is deliberate. Genocide, as defined by the 1948 Genocide Convention, includes acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Among those acts: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm; deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction; and imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group. Every one of these acts has been committed in Gaza. Many have been documented by the UN, international human rights organizations, and journalists on the ground. Statements by Israeli leaders demonstrate intent beyond any plausible deniability. And yet, the United States continues to arm and defend these actions. You swore an oath not just to uphold the Constitution but to defend justice, protect the innocent, and act in accordance with human rights and international law. When you fund, shield, or ignore genocide, you betray not just those in Gaza, but every value America claims to stand for. How many more children must die for you to say “enough”? How many more mass graves, starving infants, orphaned toddlers, and bombed hospitals will it take for your conscience to stir? We implore you: Cease all military aid and arms sales that fuel these atrocities. Demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire. Call for unfettered humanitarian access. Support international investigations and accountability, without exception. This is not a political issue. This is a moral emergency. History is watching—and so are we. Do not be remembered as leaders who looked away in the face of genocide. Be remembered as the ones who finally stood up and said: No more.