Loretto Community and Loretto Link offer joint statement on Gaza

The Loretto Community and Loretto Link condemn Israel’s ongoing genocide in Palestine and call on all people of conscience to engage in whatever ways possible to make clear to our elected officials that we demand an immediate resumption of food and medical supplies into Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the ending of U.S. arms shipments to Israel.

The Israeli government has repeatedly violated the ceasefire agreement since the day it was signed. The Israeli military has dramatically escalated its attacks, carpet-bombing the captive population of Gaza and killing hundreds of Palestinians through lethal force and starvation. 70% of the victims are women and children. (Source – BBC website)

Entire families have been annihilated. The Israeli military has also launched a ground invasion of the occupied West Bank; since January 2025, the Israeli military and settlers have forced over 40,000 Palestinians off of their land. (Source – UN website)

This is a campaign of extermination. This is genocide. (Source – https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-is-committing-genocide-in-gaza)

All of this is made possible by the U.S. government, which has funded and fueled these atrocities. Since Oct. 7, 2023, the U.S. has spent over $17 billion in military funding for the Israeli government’s campaign of extermination against the Palestinian people. (Source – https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts) U.S. arms sales to Israel continue unabated. In addition, the U.S. has provided diplomatic cover for the Israeli government throughout the Middle East and at the United Nations.

At the same time, across the United States, the Trump regime is targeting student antiwar protesters and disappearing immigrants without due process. The timing is not accidental. As the Israeli government escalates its genocide against Palestinians, the U.S. government escalates unprecedented levels of repression against those trying to stop the atrocities.

This U.S.-backed Israeli genocide must end. Please take the following steps:

• Write (or better, call) your elected representatives and tell them your concerns.
• Join (or organize) a protest in your community.
• Make friends and neighbors aware of what is going on in Gaza and the West Bank.
• Actively resist any effort to say that criticism of Israel is antisemitic. Israel is a sovereign nation, subject to international law and must be held accountable for its actions. The U.S., in providing so much military aid, is complicit in the killings of hundreds of thousands of civilians. There is nothing antisemitic about calling for this to stop.

Loretto stands with the people living in Gaza. We stand with the homeless, the hungry, the orphans and the parents whose children are dead. We stand with hostages and prisoners, health care workers and journalists, and all those who are suffering because of the actions of the United States in support of Israel.

Resources
Jewish Voice for Peace
Friends of Sabeel North America