The US as “armed camp?” It´s only a matter of time.

January 9, 2026January 9, 2026 Madelyn Hoffman 101 Views

Since the beginning of the latest phase of Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people in October 2023, the world has seen hundreds of images of bombs and bullets maiming and killing Palestinians, many of whom have been women and children. In many of these videos and photographs, there was evidence that Israel blocked emergency vehicles from reaching the victims, ensuring that they would bleed to death. Many of us saw what happened and protested against what was done. We also couldn’t believe how rarely anyone in the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) was held accountable for their crimes against humanity.

After watching this happen again and again, a certain type of cynicism started to creep in… the kind that led many to believe that the IOF was under the impression that they could literally “get away with murder” in so many different kinds of ways. While many of us were and are sickened by this behavior and the lack of accountability, some were and are emboldened and feel that they, too, can get away with brutal actions toward others, without being punished.

It has gotten to the point of horrible absurdity, in the form of Wednesday’s murder of 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota, not far from where George Floyd was murdered. Why absurd? Well, now, not only do we need to watch our backs, so we or our neighbors are not detained by ICE, but the current administration has created its own kind of paramilitary, armed and ready to shoot. This kind of paramilitary is still breaking families, friends and communities apart, in order to detain and deport people whom they deem unwanted in the US, while introducing yet another armed threat into our neighborhoods and workplaces — unless we fight back. ICE also blocked a doctor from the community from reaching Renee Good to take her pulse. We have seen that tactic before in Gaza, all too often. By doing this, the IOF ensures that their targets bleed out and never receive timely medical care.

Nelson Mandela has often been quoted as saying, “No one is free until Palestine is free”. The events of the past 2 1/2 years bear that out and show us just how correct he was. Netanyahu and the US president during the past 2 1/2 years, whether that was Joseph Biden or Donald Trump, have ignored and continue to ignore international law, continue to arm themselves and continue to increase their firepower.

This should concern ALL of us, whether we live in the US or away from it. As the director of a non-profit organization for almost 20 years, I had the opportunity to visit multiple countries who had been and were still on the receiving end of US violence/imperialistic aims. Those countries included Afghanistan, the West Bank and Haifa, Ukraine, Russia, Syria, Venezuela, Colombia, Honduras, Peru, Tunisia and Cuba. The US and Israel, together in an unhealthy alliance, have significantly affected the lives and the natural environment of the people and the land, in West Asia, Africa, Central and South America and so much more, simply because the US has the bombs. As a child, I learned that might should never make right, but that very important lesson of my youth has all but disappeared in this chaotic world of today. I also learned that there are somethings more important than profit, but that, too, has flown out the window, here in the 21st century, if not before.

In addition, I had the opportunity to spend 2 weeks in Japan, on the occasion of the 70th year following the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While the US justified those bombings in the name of ending WWII, many of us have wondered since if there wasn’t a better way to end that war, a negotiated truce, allowing Japan to save face while saving thousands more lives, both Japanese and those fighting for the US. Many of the institutions established post-World War II, beginning with the United Nations and then followed by a series of Geneva Conventions, were designed to prevent the atrocities of that war from repeating themselves ever again.

BUT WE HAVE WATCHED THE UN AND THOSE CONVENTIONS BECOME USELESS, as the singular veto of the US and Israel has blocked an end to the ongoing genocide in Palestine. US/Israeli arrogance and exceptionalism has also all but rendered the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) useless because while their rulings were strong in words, there is no enforcement mechanism and the two countries most implicated (the US and Israel) have learned how to apply political pressure and menacing threats to prevent implementation of the rulings of these two international judicial bodies.

As these wars abroad continue to expand, as the US continues to flaunt international law and provide diplomatic cover for Israel, these very same tactics and dynamics are finding their way to the US, in law enforcement, and with ICE. We all need to speak out against the real terrorists, our own government, in order to provide a safer and more secure environment in which to live. The more guns flood into the US and the less the US follows all but their own laws, the more the country returns to the days of the so-called “Wild West”.

This must stop!!