The last year of a relentless Israeli war on Gaza, and bloody raids and violence in the West Bank have been largely viewed in terms of their horrific humanitarian outcomes: the unequaled killing of tens of thousands, the obliteration of Gaza and the destruction in the West Bank. 

 While humanitarian urgency must indeed be a priority, other factors are also deserving of consideration, especially as we mark the one-year anniversary of the ongoing war. 

 Even though the mass killing is yet to end, there are several conclusions that can already be drawn about the long-term consequences of the war. 

In December 2022, during the Christmas holiday season and lame duck session – with no public input - the Ohio General Assembly stuffed a poultry bill with amendments and passed a law requiring fracking under Ohio’s state parks and public lands for gas and oil.

HB 507 also falsely defined gas as a “green energy,” despite climate scientists’ warnings that methane gas emissions related to gas and oil production are 80 percent more potent than carbon dioxide and accelerate climate warming.

Ohio public lands include state parks, forests, wilderness and wildlife areas, public colleges and universities, and Ohio Department of Transportation rights of way.

Save Ohio Parks, the statewide, all-volunteer group concerned about the effects of fracking on human health, the environment, its fresh water, and planet warming, lists in a Candidate Accountability document the legislators who voted yes on H.B. 507 and are running for office in 2024: 13 for Ohio Senate seats and 35 for the Ohio House.

The U.S. government often claims to stand for the rule of law, but this past year has made it painfully clear that this doesn’t apply to Palestinians. The moral, financial, and security costs of U.S. support for Israel’s rapidly expanding wars are adding up for Americans, too.