My painting has nothing to do with Judaism nor is it an apology for the actions of Hamas on October 7th. My painting is about the illegal and immoral actions of a state and the U.S.’s complicity in those actions.

I do not use the term genocide lightly. The Bush, the Biden, and the Trump administrations all respectively labeled the actions of Sudan (1000’s of civilians killed, 2 million displaced), Myanmar (7,000 civilians killed, 1 million displaced), and China (who displaced and encamped 1 million Muslim civilians) as acts of genocide.

In all 3 of these cases the countries accused of “genocide” said they were responding to terrorist attacks. And all 3 of these actions and responses were eerily similar to the response of Israel in Gaza where, as of 23 April, at least 34,183 have been people killed (with 72% women and children), 77,084 wounded, and 1.7 million civilians displaced.

In 1948 alone, 15,000 Palestinians were killed and more than 800,000 displaced from their ancestral homes with Israel destroying 531 Palestinian towns and villages in 70 separate massacres. Dozens of 1000’s more have been killed and displaced since then (not even counting the current civilians killed and displaced since October).

You can call it apartheid, if the term genocide makes you uncomfortable. Or you could simply call it “an organized and systemic humanitarian and political oppression and forcible displacement of an indigenous people.”

Who calls it an apartheid state? Both Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu said that Israel’s apartheid is even more brutal and more devastating than South Africa’s was.

Since 1948, the U.S. has given Israel $300 billion in economic & military aid and has used its veto power in the U.N. Security Council 42 times to block resolutions condemning Israel. And just last week, the U.S. vetoed a U.N. resolution that would have paved the way for U.N. membership for Palestine.

Genocide and apartheid are old hat fro the U.S. (see Native Americans & Slavery). And I understand that a very vocal minority’s religious mythology dictates our unquestioning support for a state of Israel. But must that support include Israel’s oppression of an indigenous population?

Oil on Canvas 22’ x 28”

1987