Dear Friends,

CLICK HERE FOR PODCAST.

Please listen to my extended conversation with Maria Reveiz about the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people. Maria’s perspective is unique, given her frequent visits to Gaza over the past nine years in her capacity as a physician.

Maria and I cover a lot of ground over the course of our 45-minute discussion. Here’s one take-away: If Democrats running for Congress hope to win in 2026, they MUST take a strong stand against Israel’s attempted genocide.

Here’s a bit of our dialogue:

MARIA: I have so much rage inside of me. I’m less angry at the Republican Party because I never expected anything from them. In fact, I’m slightly optimistic with what I hear from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

[After Greene called Israel’s assault on Gaza a genocide, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee attacked her. Greene’s response, again to her credit, was to say, “AIPAC needs to register as a foreign lobbyist because they’re breaking US laws by donating to members of Congress and taking them on a fully funded trip to Israel.”]

ME: Are there any Democrats in Congress who’ve called what’s happening in Gaza a genocide?

MARIA: Only Rep. Rashida Tlaib. I feel so personally betrayed by the Democratic Party. You saw how active I was. I went to every presidential candidate and talked about Gaza. I hosted Democratic candidates at my venue, and even let them have functions for free.

ME: What about Senator Bernie Sanders?

MARIA: Even as of a few days ago, he won’t call it a genocide. I had so much hope in him before, but I’ve lost hope. The whole establishment is broken and corrupt.

ME: My take is that Kamala Harris lost in part because there were so many people who were offended by Biden’s policy in Gaza that they stayed home, voted third party, or voted for Trump.

MARIA: If voting mattered they would take it away from us.

ME: Ok, I would disagree with that pretty strongly.

MARIA: I think the whole system is broken and I don’t know what to do about it. I don’t want to talk politics. I don’t want to talk about voting.

ME: I get that, but at some point, aren’t we going to have to have a US Congress who has — let me just say it — the courage of Greene and Tlaib — to stand up and say we’re not going to fund the genocide any more.

MARIA: Just stop the genocide. I don’t have any optimism for our political future. Just stop the genocide. That’s all I can think about every day.

​​​​​​​Thank you for reading, listening, and speaking out.

Ed Fallon

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