Notes from “30 years on ~ Palestine Genocide: Shared Struggle”

Presentation and discussion with Tarik Kanaana  and Carol Bloom
Racial Justice Allies of Sonoma County – Oct. 8, 2026

Sonoma County for Palestine:
Sunday Protests in Santa Rosa Square 2 – 3:30 pm

Don’t miss this film: NAZA
Sebastopol Rialto theater through Oct. 15 

Documentary. NAZA refers to an acronym used by the Israeli military as a shorthand for civilian killings in Gaza. In secret conversations on the rooftops of Tel Aviv at night, the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza are revealed by the people who designed and operated them. 

From Tarik’s Presentation:

“Judged against the imperatives of international law, Israel is, in the strictest sense of the term, a rogue regime, illegitimate in its founding, and devoid of all legitimacy in its conduct ever since. To declare that such a regime has a “right to exist” is an affront to generations of its victims, to international law, and to human decency itself. And the threat that it poses extends far beyond Palestine. The Israeli regime is driven by a deeply racist and fundamentally violent ideology.”  This quote comes from interviews and statements by Craig Mokhiber, former Director of the New York Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Craig Mokhiber resigned due to the UN’s failure in Palestine. This is his resignation letter: https://lartrue.org/en/resignation-letter-of-craig-mokhiber-director-in-the-new-york-office-of-the-high-commissioner-for-human-rights

From Carol’s Presentation:

Taxpayers Against Genocide
https://taxpayersagainstgenocide.org

STEP ONE Confronting Local Congressional Reps:  Two years ago, Congressional Representatives Mike Thompson and Jared Huffman voted, along with 364 other Representatives, to send $26.38 billion of US tax dollars as military aid to Israel.   Extensive calls, emails, and requests for meetings to persuade these representatives to stop funding the genocide in Gaza brought no relief.

STEP TWO Court Challenge:  Human rights activists throughout ten counties in Northern California united to form TAG to hold their Northern CA Representatives in the House, accountable for complicity in the genocide in Gaza.   Within months, TAG brought an unprecedented, massive class action lawsuit in the US federal court in CA against 18 Northern CA Congresspersons for using our tax dollars to fund the genocide in Palestine.  The case did not succeed but helped establish a necessary legal and factual record.

STEP THREE Taking it to International Bodies:  Next TAG, with the help from several National Lawyers Guild (NLG) attorneys, submitted a major report with the UN Human Rights Council, documenting and denouncing the US government for its participation in genocide.  Then TAG joined forces with a team of attorneys led by Huwaida Arraf to file an international legal complaint against the US government with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).  They also submitted evidence, on behalf of thousands of US taxpayers, with the International Criminal Court (ICC) that can be used to criminally prosecute top US officials.

STEP FOUR Stopped by Donald Trump:  On February 6, 2025, Donald Trump issued an executive order attempting to prohibit “material support” to the ICC in cases involving U.S. officials and their allies. 

STEP FIVE Fighting Trump Directly:  TAG is challenging Trump’s executive order in federal court and seeking an injunction in order to submit their evidence.  They are raising money for the legal costs.

Defend the Right to Seek Accountability for U.S. Officials’ Role in Genocide and War Crimes:  https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/support-tags-2026-legal-efforts

Stop the U.S. Government Attack on the International Criminal Court and Hold War Criminals Accountable:   https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-us-government-attack-on-the-international-criminal-court-and-hold-war-criminals-accountable

More Resources and Education

Jewish Voice for Peace:
https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org

Jewish Voice for Peace / The Wire:
https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/wire

Project Hope for Palestine
Project Hope for Palestine

Holocaust Scholar Omer Bartov & Haaretz’s Gideon Levy Debate Zionism (Democracy Now interview).
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/5/15/omer_bartov_gideon_levy_israel_zionism

Lefthook interview with American Journalist Peter Beinhart:
https://thelefthook.substack.com/p/how-can-the-us-remove-itself-from?utm_source=podcast-email&publication_id=2686450&post_id=218033200&utm_campaign=email-play-on-substack&utm_content=watch_now_button&r=d4pi&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

American writer Benjamin Moser interview on EI:  

Middle East Children Alliance:
https://www.mecaforpeace.org/donate

We Are Not Numbers (Palestinian writers on human rights):
https://wearenotnumbers.org

Palestinian Youth Ensemble Bay Area
https://share.google/1T334VT5H4xRlzEfA

American poet Anita Barrows – 3 years of daily poems for Gaza
https://www.poemsforgaza.com

Palestine 36, a documentary film by Anne Marie Jacir, for a good idea of the Palestinian history before 1948.  Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1PWKE_9YtU

Questions for Discussion

•        What do you come to this conversation about the genocide wanting to learn/understand/explore? 

•        What does it mean that this genocide has been allowed to continue for 3 years? 

•        Have changes happened for you as a result of three years of genocide? 

•        What new ways might you consider becoming more of an activist in opposition to the genocide?

Our Remarkable, Amazing Guest Presenters

Tarik Kanaana is a Palestinian American working in child nutrition at Sonoma State University and living in Santa Rosa. Over the years he has been active in the community around social justice issues, labor rights, immigration issues, housing justice and tenant rights. He is one of the founding members and core organizers with Sonoma County for Palestine and Taxpayers Against Genocide, both of which came together in response to the genocide carried out by Israel in Palestine.

Carol Bloom Carol Bloom is a lifelong activist and longtime member and former workshop facilitator with RJA and SURJ in Sonoma County. She is an early member and organizer with Taxpayers Against Genocide and active with Sonoma County for Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace. Carol is also involved in various local groups supporting immigrant rights. Carol has been a professional mediator, facilitator and trainer in California and internationally for more than 25 years.