Having been to Gaza and seen the hell it was 10 years ago, I can only imagine how much more miserable it is now.

I feel like I have a role in telling the US public about the tragedies we are committing by giving $3billion a year in military aid to Israel. Knowing how my own immigration from the Soviet Union to the US was facilitated by the existence of Israel, I feel pulled by my knowledge of how Israel mistreats the Palestinians and manipulates the Holocaust to inflict repression on Palestinians and my own community’s blind allegiances to the state. I want more people to realize the injustices Israel is committing but I don’t know how to do this. (I am a Soviet Jew who left the USSR to the US via an Israeli visa.)

I’ve written to my Congress people about halting US military support for Israel and demanding a cease fire. But, I am sad to say that I don’t think the US will do anything until we get our new president next week. Though I am a strong supporter of Obama, he has such a disaster to deal with at home that I don’t know when he’ll get to the Middle East. In a few hours, I will attend a community meeting organized by local Muslim groups and a Jewish peace group on how to help Gaza. Maybe there, I will find some ideas.

Do you have any ideas?

(Susanna Zaraysky writes on issues of being a global citizen. She can be reached at info@susansword.com. Her website is www.susansword.com.)