U.S. Taxpayers Refuse to be Weaponized: Commemorating 50 Years since the Cambodian Genocide
April 15, 2025
This year, Tax Day falls on Thai, Lao, and Khmer New Year and the 50th anniversary of the Cambodian Genocide. As we commemorate this important date for Southeast Asian communities in the United States, we hold their resilience and love with the new solar new year. We cannot help but make connections to how American taxpayers were weaponized to fund the bombing campaigns in Southeast Asia five decades ago, and how taxes still pay for war and genocide today.
The Khmer Rouge gained power after the United States brutally bombed, invaded, and destabilized Cambodia and Laos from 1969 to 1973 during its war on Southeast Asia. In 1970, US President Richard Nixon said: “There is no limitation on mileage and there is no limitation on budget”(1). US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger directed 3,875 bombing raids (2) on Cambodia (2,756,941 tons of bombs (3)). The destabilization of the region led to the rise of the brutal authoritarian leader Pol Pot, whose regime persecuted and killed 25% of Cambodian civilians from 1975 to 1979.
Learn about the Southeast Asian Relief and Responsibility Campaign (SEAFN) here.
During this time of year, Thai, Lao, and Khmer communities come together to honor their heritage, families, and the traditions passed down by elders and ancestors — celebrating the importance of unity and love. These celebrations are more than just a moment of joy and gathering, they are a reminder of strength and resilience.
U.S. tax dollars paid for the war that led to the Cambodian Genocide, and today U.S. tax dollars are paying for Israel’s genocide of Palestinians.
Taxpayers fund the military through their taxes. The average U.S. taxpayer pays over $5,000 in income taxes to fund the international U.S. war machine(4). From October 2023 to October 2024, the United States provided $17.9 billion dollars in military aid to Israel for its ethnic cleansing of Palestinians (5).
Instead of arming Israel, California taxpayers could fund (6):
- 1,801,060 households with one month’s free rent
- 999,544 children receiving free or low-cost healthcare for one year
- 6,044,590 families with one month’s free groceries
- 76,023 students with their loan debt cancelled
Under the Biden administration, tens of thousands took to the streets to urge their schools, workplaces, businesses, and elected representatives to stop funding genocide. Instead, our institutions have rejected our calls for an arms embargo and criminalized people who speak out against genocide.
Under the Trump regime, Israel continues to bomb Palestinians with weapons paid for by our taxes while I.C.E. (which is also funded by our taxes) is persecuting students who protested against the genocide during the Biden administration.
“Justice escapes the contours of this nation’s immigration facilities.”- Mahmoud Khalil (7)
Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda is also affecting Southeast Asian communities, who are 3–4 times more likely to be deported for old convictions than other immigrant communities(8). Sanctuary laws in California limit some state and local cooperation with I.C.E., but federal laws still allow I.C.E to operate and raid places where working-class immigrant communities live and work. Learn more and find Know Your Rights resources from Asian Law Caucus here.
The increased spending in militarization domestically and abroad — supporting violence against Arab and Palestinians and attempted land grabs by ethnic cleansing — is fascist, period. From California to Palestine, not my tax dollars!
Keep Sithy Home
Sithy Bin is a Cambodian refugee, faith leader, community organizer, and reentry counselor who has spent the last several years transforming lives across CA. Now, Sithy faces permanent separation from his wife, children, and grandchildren — a cruel, double punishment that far outlives his past mistakes.
Tell California Governor Gavin Newsom to pardon Sithy Bin: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-governor-gavin-newsom-to-pardon-sithy-bin
Sources:
(1) https://jacobin.com/2015/04/khmer-rouge-cambodian-genocide-united-states/
(2) https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/30/henry-kissinger-cambodia-bombing-war/
(3)https://gsp.yale.edu/sites/default/files/walrus_cambodiabombing_oct06.pdf
(4) https://truthout.org/articles/report-average-us-taxpayer-paid-over-5000-toward-militarism-in-2023/
(5) https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts
(6) https://www.notmytaxdollars.org/taxday
(7) https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/a-letter-from-palestinian-activist-mahmoud-khalil
(8) https://humanimpact.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/HIP-StopICEtransfers-Talking-Points-08-2020-1.pdf
