Visualizing Palestine
Fund Care Not Killing
As Americans prepare their taxes for Tax Day on April 15, remember that the U.S. government continues to spend the citizen’s money to fund mass violence against Palestinians. What could the U.S. fund instead of more weapons to Israel? In collaboration with our partners, U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights-Action (USCPRA), we updated our visual series, Fund Care Not Killing, to show that the $17.9 billion in military funding that U.S. lawmakers sent to Israel to fuel genocide in 2024 could have been used to fund housing, healthcare, education, and solar electricity for millions of Americans instead.
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Despite support from over 60% of Americans to halt military funding to Israel, the U.S. continues to aid and abet Israel’s genocide against Palestinians with the American people’s tax dollars. In February, the Trump administration approved an additional $8 billion in arms sales to Israel to fuel its genocidal campaign in Gaza.
While Senator Bernie Sanders attempted to block the sale, it was rejected by the majority of the U.S. Senate.
It is important to continue to push U.S. Congress members to represent the will of the American people. If you are an American citizen or resident, you can take action by emailing your members of Congress to call for an arms embargo on Israel. USCPRA’s site, NotMyTaxDollars.org, has more graphics and posters you can use to tell Americans how much of their tax money is spent fueling Israeli violence.
Divesting from Genocide and US
Authoritarianism
War tax resisters are taking to the streets to call for an end to genocide and protest a president who is exceeding his authority. They are divesting from the taxes that fund war and investing in people, planet, and justice.
The US supports Israel with over $3 billion in military aid each year and has provided more military aid to Israel than any other country since the end of World War II. The endless US war on terror continues with drone warfare in Afghanistan and Yemen. This is often forgotten, but a certain text thread recently reminded the public of this reality. And the US continues its military presence outside its borders with over 800 military bases. In addition, the recently signed National Defense Authorization Act approved $895 billion in funding for fiscal year 2025.
Since US military spending only continues to increase with no end in sight, we are divesting from war by refusing to pay the federal tax dollars that fund it. Some will refuse all or a portion of their tax debt while others live below the taxable income level. We invite everyone to join us in this public campaign of civil disobedience to end war and war funding.
Thousands of people across the United States—from Berkeley to Manhattan—are protesting the US military budget on or around Tax Day (April 15). They will promote war tax resistance and highlight the deep flaws of our current budget.
Local actions include a panel discussion on “Breaking Free from the War Machine: Stories of Tax Resistance” in Washington DC, “Burma Shave” sign display during rush hour in Portland, Oregon, a vigil outside the IRS in Manhattan, and redirection ceremonies where activists will redirect tens of thousands of withheld federal tax dollars to underfunded organizations. Redirection ceremonies are set to take place in Berkeley, California; Portland, Oregon; Madison, Wisconsin; Harrisonburg, Virginia; and Boston, Massachusetts.
The federal budget for fiscal year 2026 will continue to take our country in the wrong direction. With Trump’s stated goals to eliminate the Dept. of Education, in addition to major cuts in Medicaid, housing assistance, food aid, energy credits, EPA, USAID, Labor, NSF, NASA, Interior, FEMA, IRS, as well as other departments and agencies, we expect that when Trump finally releases his proposed budget for 2026, that military spending will consist of 50% of the overall budget, with $2.7 trillion dedicated to past and present military expenses.
With the invasion of Gaza with US weapons, we saw a historic increase in people calling our office, visiting our website, and attending war tax resistance trainings online and in person. This increased interest in war tax resistance has only continued with the Trump administration’s attempt to dismantle helpful government programs while deporting US residents. We have also seen new groups form that are supportive of war tax resistance. For example, Choose Democracy, We the People, and the Tax Resistance Collective have all adopted war tax resistance platforms during the past eighteen months. (On Instagram, these groups can be found at @choosedemocracy, @wtp.resist and @tax.resistance.collective.) We have also seen Healthcare Workers for Palestine-Bay Area and the National Lawyers Guild—along with many others—host information sessions on war tax resistance.
Luke Thomas: Fighting for Palestine, UFC’s Monopoly, Saudi Sportswashing
Combat sports journalist Luke Thomas joins Eric Draitser on CounterPunch for a discussion of the politics of MMA, Boxing, and combat sports broadly. The discussion explores the inspiration of Belal Muhammad for Palestinian solidarity and resistance, the right-wing politics and culture of the UFC, the motivations for the Saudi government’s move into sports, the role of MMA in promoting fascist politics to young men, the rise and fall of Conor McGregor, and much more. Follow Luke’s work on Substack @lukethomasnews.
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