This blog is a public statement of my views on the Israel-Hamas conflict, which is a war-breeding genocide on Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank launched by the Israeli government, funded by the United States militaristic power, as retaliation for Hamas’ terroristic attack on October 7, 2023. I rightly believe that the Israeli occupation of the Holy Land that has continued to oppress Palestinians since 1948 must come to an end. This war-breeding genocide must come to an end. Ceaesefire Now is the minimum approach and first task to peace and liberation for the Palestinian people to experience full human rights of self-determination and a just share in the Holy Land. The soul of the Holy Land is at stake, but so is the soul of America. Thus, I will document my letter to the White House and the Biden-Harris Administration in this blog; I am still awaiting a response.
Silence is complacency. There is always a time to speak out and stand up for rights. This letter is dated on December 2, 2023:
Dear President Biden and Vice President Harris,
In the election of 2020, I casted my vote for the “Fight for the Soul of America”. It was the lesser of two evils, they say. Yet, I did not believe that notion when I voted for you, Mr. President and Madam Vice President. I believe that I was joining the fight for the soul of America. So, I am writing this letter to the Biden-Harris Administration because, I am devastated at the condition of America’s soul in the Israel-Hamas conflict. My name is Ty Hamer, 24 year old African American minister and graduate student earning my MDiv degree from Gardner-Webb University. I am from Goldsboro, NC and I am a registered Independent voter who votes with his conscience and love for humanity.
I believe that the soul of America is in a critical state. During these times of warfare, I recall Dr. Howard Thurman’s warning of how war can masquerade the evil of hate into the good spirit of patriotism. Just recently, the House of Representatives voted with a bilateral and bipartisan agreement to the right of Israel to exist and defend itself in the resolution of H.R. 888. Mr. President, I do not want you to conclude that I am against this statement of Israel’s right of defense. But how can our Congressmen and Congresswomen be so one-sided to the suffering of the Palestinian people? To quote a Palestinian pastor and theologian, Rev. Dr. Munther Issac, “Do Palestinians have the right to defend themselves when their is confiscated or when [Israeli] settlers burn their fields or homes? Do the same standards apply to both sides equally?”
At the wake of the devastating, terroristic act caused by Hamas on October 7, the Biden-Harris administration issued a statement that was later retracted that Hamas beheaded babies. The later retraction by the White House reveals that this was not true yet as a result of these claims, should I say rumored claims, had seemingly disseminated justification of retribution against the innocent lives of the Palestinian people in Gaza. Mr. President and Madam Vice President, our words have power and could produce positive or negative consequences. As the African church father, Augustine of Hippo once said, “to slay war itself with a word, than to slay men with sword, and to procure or maintain peace by peace, not by war.”
So during this advent season as I have called for a complete ceasefire on social media, I am imploring my voice in this letter to the Biden-Harris administration to call for a complete ceasefire. As Americans, we must seek peace in the relations between Palestine and Israel that develops just, respectful and respectable liberation for the dispossessed of the Palestinian community. These effects of warfare are taking the lives of the innocence that deserve a better world. As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, once said, “We must rapidly begin to shift from a “thing-oriented” society to a “people-oriented” society. When machines and computers, profit motives, and property rise are considered more important than people, the great triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”
In closing, Mr. President and Madam Vice-President, we must as Americans, from public citizens to public servants, seek to condemn corruption whether it is acts of terror or military occupation and support the lives of all people because all people are created in the image of God with unalienable rights that are certain: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Respectfully,
Ty Hamer
Will those spiritually liberated by the bloodshed of Jesus Christ join in the call for holistic liberation for all people? Will people of goodwill participate in the call for peace for all people?
Liberation is not overthrowing the perpetrators of injustice. Still, liberation is the shared human experience with the Divine who overthrew evil, sin, and its offspring: injustice, oppression, hatred, exploitation, and fear.
