Bethlehem in West Bank also caught in war

Former Bethlehem mayor and Palestinian Christian Zoughbi Zoughbi leads Wi'am, the Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center, in Bethlehem. I wrote Zoughbi after the war started, asking, “How are you?”

Zoughbi replied: “We are facing the challenges, hardships and difficulties equipped with faith and armed with hope. We are offering psycho-social support to all needed people to cast out their anxiety and fear, offering medical assistance, providing food packages. Job creation is a must to keep the dignity of people when most people lost their jobs. We are in dire need for responding to the growing needs of our people …Thanks for empathy and solidarity.”

Since October 7, 292 people have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank. Sixty miles away in Gaza, 21,000 people have been killed by the Israeli military — 8,000 were children.

As I read histories of Indigenous people here, I am horrified by mass murders our nation committed. The United States could stop mass murders by its client state Israel, and divert military spending to meet growing needs of people.