We are approaching one year since Hamas (which, in my opinion, was basically created by Israel) perpetrated the horrible massacre of some 1,200 Israelis and citizens of other countries.

Horrified, the world watched as the Israeli government retaliated by relentlessly bombing Gaza, so far killing upwards of 40,000 individuals and wounding well over 100,000, as it has bombed and destroyed most of Gaza, including hundreds of educational, religious and other cultural institutions. It has created a climate of fear by not only stepping up military action in Lebanon but idly ignoring Israeli settlers as they illegally invade the West Bank and carry out lethal attacks on Palestinians. And now a war against Iran is possibly on the horizon.

The United Nations, the International Court of Justice and other multinational bodies have condemned the Israeli government’s continued violations of international law.

Tens of millions of ordinary citizens throughout the world have signed petitions, held demonstrations, set up university encampments and engaged in various forms of civil disobedience to urge an immediate ceasefire. They have pleaded with the U.S. government to stop granting financial and military support and political cover to Israel’s policy of genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank. Yet, Israeli crimes against Palestinians show no signs of abating.

As an Associate Member of the Veterans For Peace (and a now-retired member of Psychologists for Social Responsibility), I am a nonviolently engaged American citizen of conscience; so I fervently demand that my government call for an immediate ceasefire and an equitable resolution of this conflict. That means the U.S must:

• insist that Israel negotiate with Palestinian representatives pursuant to a ceasefire;

• halt all weapons to Israel;

• immediately restore humanitarian aid to war-torn Gaza;

• restore its funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, the primary organization responsible for aid to the region.

I call on all citizens of goodwill to exercise individual and collective pressure on their elected representatives and other officials to achieve these ends.

As an Iranian-American peace, democracy and human rights activist, and an amateur historian, I am well aware of the long-term consequences of war. I also know that an actively engaged and organized citizenry, disgusted by its government’s complicity in and indifference to suffering, can hasten the end of this war.

Let us not sit by and watch. Grandmother Earth is wounded enough, it does not need more wars.

Moji Agha is a retired university educator, a member of Historians for Peace And Democracy and a Sufi Muslim member of the Jewish Voice for Peace. Agha is the founder of the “Chambers of Compassion,” which is a component of the Peace And Truth Heals (PATH) initiative. Agha lives in Boulder.