Statement and Prayer for Gaza from Hindu American Organizations
As Hindu American organizations, we are horrified by the images of the ongoing genocide and forced starvation underway in Gaza. As people whose communities have experienced these tragedies within living memory, we are familiar with the horrors being visited upon the Palestinian people.
As the horrific images of starving Gazans emerge, we are reminded of our own region’s history. Every gaunt Gazan child could be a starving Indian child in 1943’s Bengal Famine. Winston Churchill, at the time, refused to allow food into Bengal, Orissa, and Bihar, alleging that the food would go to Japanese soldiers occupying Burma. While Indians starved, Churchill forced the subcontinent to export food. The British Government denied fishermen from using their boats to access food in the rivers and Indian Ocean. Like Churchill, Benjamin Netanyahu has purposefully denied Gazans access to food and refused to allow food into the region being starved. Gazans are banned from fishing in the Mediterranean Sea. Our communities were punished for being colonial subjects. Gazans are punished for existing.
A UN report found that the worst-case scenario is playing out as more than ⅓ of Gazans go multiple days without food. According to UNICEF, “in Gaza City, malnutrition levels among children under five have quadrupled in two months, reaching 16.5 per cent.” More than 20,000 children have been admitted to health facilities for acute malnutrition. At least 147 people have died of starvation. And while Palestinians starve, those who try to access food are killed. More than 1,000 Gazans have been killed by Israeli forces at food distribution points run by the US-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Even now, as Netanyahu begrudgingly allows a trickle of food to enter, the world knows that this will not be enough. Gaza’s 2 million people are dying of hunger.
This weaponized hunger is part of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. In October 2023, the Israeli government announced plans to lay siege to Gaza. They restricted the flow of water and energy into the territory. For years, now, they have refused to allow adequate food to enter. Hospitals have been shut down. The IDF has decimated Gaza’s infrastructure. More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed so far, although that is surely an undercount. And Gazans have nowhere to turn. 2 million people are dying from bombs, medical neglect, and starvation.
As Hindu Americans, we cannot accept the violence that is being supported in our names. We call on Israel to end its genocide in Gaza, restore full access to food and humanitarian assistance, and end apartheid in Palestine.
We additionally call on the US government to end its partnership with the Global Humanitarian Foundation, restore funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine, and end all military assistance and sales to Israel.
Every life is a blessing. Every life is divine. This genocide must end.
We echo the chant and prayer of our Jewish siblings about starvation and genocide, "Never again for anyone; never again means now.”
And this powerful prayer to Lord Shiva, the deity of destruction and regeneration, resounds from the chambers of our broken hearts:
“Om Tryambakam Yajamahe
Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam
Urvarukamiva Bandhanan
Mrityor Mukshiya Maamritat
Om Shanti Shanti Shantihi.”
Om.
We worship and adore you, O three-eyed one, O Shiva.
You are sweet gladness, the fragrance of life, who nourishes us, restores our health, and causes us to thrive.
As, in due time, the stem of the plant weakens, and the fruit is freed from the vine, so free us from attachment and death, and do not withhold immortality.
Om Peace Peace Peace