1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

I write to you today, driven by a profound urgency that echoes in my heart as an ordinary man, a citizen of a world that I believe is capable of so much more than the injustices displayed daily. For too long, we have turned blind eyes and deaf ears to the tearing agony of the Palestinian civilians, victims to unspeakable atrocities, and it is high time we rise above political veils and economic alliances to uphold the human values we all preach, but seldom practice. The reverberations of our choices reach far beyond our immediate vicinity, embedding themselves in the heart of the global community. Every tax dollar funneled towards the funding of Israel's actions against Palestinian civilians, every weapon supplied to perpetuate the fanning flames of violence, is a silent nod to crimes against humanity, a green light signaling a tacit complicity that goes unchecked. We supply the arms that tear futures asunder, that stunt lives in their spring and it must be asked, when did destruction sown in foreign lands become home's harvest? We have invested in conflict, watched borders bloom red, towns drown in trauma while we stroke the beast of war with one hand and dole out humanitarian aid with the other, a macabre dance that promises no winners. It is an age-old adage but rings true today more than ever; violence begets violence. It is beyond time that we listen and act, not with escalated violence, but with empathy genuinely bred from understanding. Let us cease fire, stop the funding, halt the sending of arms, and dismantle this vicious cycle. Let us remember that each life, Palestinian and Israeli alike, holds value - and to protect one while destroying the other is a grotesque mockery of peace and humanity. We must strive to be better, do better, for our actions echo in the annals of history and right now, they scream of lives wasted and potentials unrealized. We cannot afford silence anymore.