Time to Raise the Bar in America
If we value freedom & democracy for anyone, it has to be for everyone.
I recently gave remarks at a non-partisan rally at the Capitol Building in Madison, Wisconsin to celebrate freedom and democracy. I was asked to speak as an American, the mother of three Palestinians, and someone who honors the First Peoples of America and the world. I am sharing them with you now:
We are gathered here to celebrate freedom, celebrate democracy. I was here in 2011, sleeping at the Capitol with my kids while Ian’s Pizza sustained us with orders placed from around the world. How many of you were here with me? I wanted my kids to see what democracy looks like, that when people speak out, change is possible.
Now we’re in 2024 and I have to be honest. I no longer know what freedom and democracy look like. Just like the Holocaust taught us ‘Never Again’ for anyone, when we say freedom and democracy, don’t we mean for everyone?
Whether you were born here or elsewhere, you have been told that freedom and democracy are the cornerstones of Western civilization, even though we heard today that we have the Iroquois Nation to thank for our democracy. These ideals are often coupled with principals of human rights and international law. But what has become of those principals?
America was never a perfect nation. Founded on genocide and slavery, how could it be? And yet many of us believe that the principals of freedom and democracy can be real, not for an elite few, but for all of us.
Many of us have been in this struggle a long time, building off of those who came before us, working to make America a more perfect nation, one that lives up to the ideals we hold dear.
Change has never come easy, nor does it come served on a silver platter. Change is hard work, it takes integrity, and it takes numbers. That means you and me, all of us. How can we be the change we want to see in the world?
In the spring, at the Wisconsin Grassroots Festival, John Nichols, who is here with us today, asked us not to settle. Neither I nor he want to tell you what to do, but I share in his sentiment that we need to raise the bar on America.
If we believe in freedom and justice for all, if we believe democracy is the voice of the people, if we believe in human rights and international law for all, then we have work to do, because the bar has hit rock bottom.
Before I go on, let me level with you who I am. I am speaking to you as an American, but also as the daughter of a child soldier who grew up under Nazi Germany which sought to exterminate the Jewish people. I carry both the promise of America and the warning of my ancestors in my bones.
I grew up in the Cold War and saw how America used the arms race and military and economic might to create spheres of influence that strengthened its foothold on global power and hegemony. Today America enjoys center stage in its capacity to control resources and affect people’s lives. As a democracy we must not be complacent about the lack of freedom people here in America enjoy nor how American policy affects people’s lives overseas. That power has led us to the doorstep of WWIII.
I also speak to you as the mother of three Palestinian Americans who the moment they stand on the soil of their ancestors are expected to live in Israel’s shadow. So for me, freedom and democracy are personal.
What I love about Palestine besides the beauty of the land and its people, is the resilience of Palestinians to never settle for anything less than the freedom to live with dignity in their homeland. That’s still what our First Nations are fighting for right here at home.
If we value freedom & democracy for anyone, it has to be for everyone. At home, that means honoring tribal lands, languages, and traditions, and abroad it means no occupation in Ukraine or Palestine.
Our elected officials would have us believe we can’t raise the bar that high, that it’s too complicated. But didn’t we outlaw slavery? Segregation? Didn’t we secure the right for women to vote? Didn’t we end the Vietnam War and Apartheid in South Africa? Didn’t we witness the fall of the Berlin Wall? People made that change by challenging the status quo, by raising the bar. Fairness doesn’t fall from the sky. We fight for it.
We can’t live in fear, just get through this election, and then see. I don’t care who you’re voting for. The bar is too low. You’re being asked to settle. The vision for a better America, a better world starts now, right here right now. If you believe in it, then prove it. I’m asking you to raise that bar, for yourselves, your friends, your neighbors, your leaders, and yes, the world.
It is time we stop living in an America that robs natural resources around the world for the benefit of the few over the many, from the copper mines of the Congo that power your cell phones, to the Line 3 Oil Pipeline of Minnesota that threaten the ancestral lands and waters of the Anishinaabe. This subjugation of communities coupled with the desecration of our Earth through war and exploitation has to stop.
The Sioux Nation thinks of the impact on the next seven generations before they make major decisions. Where is our foresight? Where is our vision? Moving Black fathers from plantations to prisons—how does that affect the next seven generations of Black families in America? Leaving children in Gaza wounded with no surviving family—what has become an acronym (WCNSF) for the brave doctors who serve there—what is the impact on the Palestinian people? How do such atrocities lead to peace?
People who know me know I look at the world through the lens of dignity. That’s what my time at Standing Rock and in Palestine have taught me, that I can’t be silent while people are being subjugated before our very eyes, wherever they may be.
It was Nelson Mandela who said, “Our freedom is tied to the freedom of the Palestinians.”
That is why I won’t settle for homelessness in the US, nor the bombing of homes in Gaza.
That’s why I won’t settle for inaccessible healthcare at home, nor the bombing of hospitals in Gaza.
That’s why I won’t settle for substandard education at home, nor the bombing of schools and universities in Gaza.
That’s why I won’t stand for a judicial system in the US, that puts more people in prison than any other nation, nor will I stand for the incarceration of Palestinian men, women, and children without trial or representation in the ‘only democracy in the Middle East’.
That’s why I won’t stand for silencing voices here in the US, and the silencing of Palestinian voices by burying them under the rubble, with our tax dollars no less.
That’s why I don’t accept political violence at home, nor the blowing away of adversaries abroad.
When democracy stinks of hypocrisy, the world frowns on us.
Is that the world we want to live in, where we disagree with someone, we blow them away rather than engage in honest conversation? Aren’t there always at least two sides to a story? How many of you have really listened to both sides of any issue that divides us? Extremism is a symptom of the failure to treat people with respect. The best weapon against extremism is honoring people’s right to live with dignity.
What we do at home matters here and around the world. We cannot have our heads in the sand or pretend that we can call all the shots and never take a bullet. What was 9/11? What was October 7? How can we support occupation, apartheid, and genocide abroad and stand for freedom and democracy at home? There is no joy in genocide. Vowing to continue with the same policy in the Middle East is an affront to American values. It’s not complicated. It’s that simple.
We must have diplomatic resolution beginning with a ceasefire, an arms embargo in compliance with American law that forbids the sale of weapons for use against civilian populations, the release of all captives held by Israel and Hamas, and the delivery of humanitarian aid to prevent starvation and disease.
There is no peace unless Palestinians have the Right of Return, so both Israelis and Palestinians can live with dignity between the River and the Sea in a homeland free of occupation, apartheid, and genocide.
Before I close out, I want to remind all of you that today we have access to more information than ever before. We must support the journalistic integrity of independent media and access to conflict zones so that people can speak for themselves. We cannot parrot the talking points of mainstream media over honest debate that is vital to a vibrant democracy.
So, I ask you to find your voice, but also your humility. See yourself in others. Let our competing truths be told and let’s talk about what’s next, not blow each other away with campaign promises or airstrikes. Let’s raise the bar together for freedom and democracy now.
I must add at least a brief answer HOW to raise the bar, and honestly, that is where I need your help. None of us can effect change alone. We need to be in community, have difficult conversations, educate ourselves and each other, open our minds and hearts to find a path forward that brings dignity to all of humanity. That is a tall order, one that will not happen overnight. But it can start right now if we commit to raising the bar for ourselves and each other.
What raising the bar looks like will vary from person to person, within and across organizations, even nations, in policy and practice on the ground. In everything I do, I fall back on the lens of dignity, not for me, or just for you, but for all of us. That takes work, engagement, and a constant feedback loop to see how our work affects the lives of others. What I am certain about is that right now, American policy is supporting a genocide. And so I take the stand that we need to do whatever it takes to stop the killing NOW.
Looking forward to hearing your ideas on how to raise the bar for humanity…