Faisal R. Khan: It Is Hands-On Time, Not Hands-Off — A Rebuke to the Democratic-Liberal Establishment
It Is Hands-On Time, Not Hands-Off — A Rebuke to the Democratic-Liberal Establishment
Yesterday, across the United States, over 12,000 rallies and protests were organized under the theme of “Hands Off.” Millions came out. The streets were filled with powerful signs demanding an end to Trumpism, defending LGBTQ rights, protecting Social Security and Medicaid, and pushing back against economic injustice. But amid all the noise, one thing was glaringly absent — truth.
The so-called “Hands Off” movement failed to speak a single word about the genocide in Gaza. Not a whisper for the massacres in the West Bank. Both are occupied Palestinian Territories. Not a chant for the American-made bombs raining down on Palestinian children. No banners for the dying in Yemen. No outrage over the strikes in Lebanon and Syria. And silence — utter silence — over the suffering in Somalia, Congo, and Sudan.
This was not an oversight. This was a choice.
Once again, the Democratic Party establishment — and its loyal liberal-left orbit — have revealed where their red lines are drawn. They’ll mobilize for domestic issues, but the moment you bring up imperialism, military aggression, or the slaughter of Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities abroad — they fall silent. They say it’s too complicated. They change the subject. They pretend not to see.
But we see.
We see the American-made weapons shipped to Israel that are used to kill civilians. We see the congressional approvals. We see Democrats — yes, Democrats — voting for military aid while people including thousands of children are buried under rubble in Gaza, while food and water are blocked, while an entire population is being choked under siege. We see Chuck Schumer spewing propaganda while children die. We see Cory Booker offering nothing but hollow empty words. And we see far too many liberals looking the other way — because the bombs are dropping on Arabs and Muslims and Africans.
This is what moral cowardice looks like. This is what selective outrage looks like.
But there are exceptions — brave souls who refuse to bow. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley stood up yesterday in Boston rally and named the genocide for what it is. A few others have followed. But they are not enough. They need us.
We need a hands-on movement — not one that looks away when the victims aren’t white, not one that censors itself to protect politicians, not one that claims to be anti-Trump but funds Trump’s wars in disguise.
Let’s be clear: a movement that refuses to condemn genocide is not a moral movement. A movement that centers itself in comfort while others bleed is not a justice movement. This is a moment of reckoning for the American left. You cannot claim to fight fascism at home while you fund it abroad.
It is hands-on time — time to name and shame every establishment figure who supports occupation and apartheid. Time to call out Democratic leaders who say “never again” but turn their backs on ethnic cleansing in Palestine. Time to demand an end to U.S. military aggression in the Middle East, in Africa, in every corner of the globe where American imperialism wears a liberal mask.
We must reject complicity. We must reject silence.
And to those who think the violence America funds abroad won’t reach its own shores — you are mistaken. Imperialism is a boomerang. The tools of repression forged overseas are coming back home: in militarized police, in surveillance, in poverty, in fascism.
So this is a call — to everyone with a conscience: get your hands dirty. Get hands-on in this fight. Speak up. Protest. Organize. Push back against the status quo — not just the right-wing version of it, but the liberal one, too.
History will remember where you stood. Let it be on the side of the oppressed. Let it be hands-on.
Signed,
