Palestine-Israel

All Issues

Palestine-Israel is a priority campaign of Massachusetts Peace Action.

Our Mission

After the project of creating a Zionist state in Palestine was adopted by the European colonial powers a century ago, the indigenous Arabs of the land have faced a continuing process of dispossession. In 1947-48 at least 750,000 Palestinians were ethnically cleansed from their land in what they call The Nakba or “Catastrophe.” Hundreds of thousands more were expelled or fled when Israel expanded in 1967. To this day, Israel has maintained a military occupation of Palestinian territories in the West Bank and Gaza.

From October 7, 2023 up to a temporary ceasefire beginning on January 19, 2025, the Israeli army engaged in an all-out genocidal campaign against the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip, killing large numbers of civilians, destroying schools, universities, hospitals, mosques, and churches, while escalating military and settler violence against the people of the West Bank.

Israeli settlers have also been escalating their violent attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank while the Israeli government turns a blind eye. The Palestinian people of Gaza, who, since 2007, have endured life under a medieval siege, now face daily bombings and forced starvation. Israel’s campaign of terror has left no line uncrossed, shelling hospitals full of injured civilians and healthcare workers and massacring desperate families waiting in line for flour. Our goal is to alter the course of U.S. policy from one of unconditional financial and political support for the Israeli genocide, occupation and apartheid of the Palestinian people to one that demands that Palestinians and Israeli Jews have equal political and human rights.

Issues Background

The United States’ government “special” relationship with Israel has manifested in many ways, including unconditional military, political and economic support. In total, the US government has funneled more than $110 billion in military aid into Israel since 1962, meaning Israel has received more US aid since the Second World War than any other nation. The United States also utilizes its veto power as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to block resolutions that could hold Israel to account for its crimes.

Despite Israel’s war being labeled a plausible case of genocide by the International Court of Justice, the United States continues to provide financial and diplomatic support, ensuring that the carnage will never stop. U.S. taxpayers have for years subsidized the Israeli occupation with over $10 million per day, or nearly $4 billion per year, and a special appropriation of $17 billion for more weapons was added in April 2024. The US government not only makes Israel’s war crimes possible, it has also defunded UNRWA, the only organization capable of providing the humanitarian aid Gazans need so desperately. In addition to perpetuating Palestinian suffering, U.S. “anti-terror” policy has guaranteed that any form of solidarity with the Palestinian resistance at home or abroad is condemned as terrorist activity. At MAPA, we recognize the imperial and colonial roots of the Zionist project and stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people’s right to liberation and return to the homes from which they were expelled.

Get Involved

Our Palestine-Israel campaign group meets every Wednesday at 5:30pm on zoom. We gather to discuss updates on the unfolding genocide in Gaza and related conflict across the Middle East, which are posted as the Genocide in Gaza: Jeff Klein Reports series on Youtube. We organize to achieve a permanent ceasefire, an end to US military aid to Israel, an end to the Israeli occupation, and equal human and political rights for Israelis and Palestinians. We offer a series of Webinars with esteemed guest speakers, many of whom are based in Palestine or are experts on the topic. If interested in joining our Gaza Israel Mideast Peace Campaign, go to https://masspeace.us/gaza-peace, email pi@masspeaceaction.org, or scan this QR code: