By Brooke Budner and Jenna Reed

Members of San Juan Islanders for Justice in Palestine

We, like many residents of our county, are feeling flooded by the onslaught of drastic policy shifts enacted in the first 100 days of the Trump administration. We feel concerned and disturbed by the various infringements on our liberties and targeting of marginalized groups. It can be hard enough to keep our eyes open to what is going on within our own country.

But while we summon the energy and courage to work at stopping the Trump agenda nationally, it is of critical importance that we focus equal energy and attention on the genocide ongoing in Palestine. Not only because what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank is horrific, illegal and dystopian, but because we are DIRECTLY funding it. We are enabling this genocide with our money and our weapons. In 2024 the Biden administration sent $17.9 billion of our taxes directly to the Israeli government to support their brutal bombardment. Trump has already sent 16 billion more in weapons sales and military assistance. This is our money.

A conservative estimate of the death toll is over 52,000 Palestinians. Thousands more are living with amputations and life-altering injuries. Israel has imposed a monthslong blockade on any humanitarian aid entering the strip, which has left the entire population on the brink of starvation. We could go on with devastating statistics about the loss and intentional targeting of medical workers, journalists, hospitals, schools and infrastructure. But suffice it to say that without our diplomatic and material support, this absolute nightmare simply could not be sustained. As difficult as it is, we must own that genocide is OUR politics, and therefore we must take responsibility.

It may be hard for some to pay close attention to Palestine and to center it in their list of growing concerns. There could be many reasons for this:

For one, the media has largely failed us. Most mainstream news sources minimize or entirely ignore the atrocity. We are left to search out the Instagram feeds of the remaining Palestinian journalists on the ground or seek out the few media sources like Al Jazeera or Democracy Now that give the crisis relevant coverage.

Second, Democratic politicians are largely silent, acting in lockstep with Republicans to green-light support for Israel. Our senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, have consistently voted in favor of sending more aid and weapons.

Third, there has been a dominant corporate, media and institutional culture of doxxing, harassment, firing and violence toward those who dare to advocate publically or organize for the rights of Palestinians. The criminalization of advocates like Mamhoud Kahlil and Rumyesa Ozturk is a slippery slope, which lays the groundwork for repression of advocates of other human rights and social justice issues that the Trump administration may deem opposed to their agenda.

No matter the barriers, we must look. We must make our Representatives look. We must take responsibility. Palestinians need and deserve our attention, our energy and our solidarity. This is not a moment to turn away.