United States can't continue to support killing by Israelis

Whenever there is a major upheaval in any part of the world we are accustomed to viewing media images of the masses of people fleeing toward a safe haven to escape the carnage.  Not this time, Gaza, a strip of land 30 miles long varying from 3 to 8 miles wide, is home to 1.5 million.

Palestinians, mainly families of the refugees from the 1948 war.  All borders have been sealed and they have been denied any avenues of escape.  Gaza has become in effect a shooting gallery, with the Palestine people as its targets.  In this country, however, we have become so accustomed to unquestioning support of Israeli actions that the suffering of Palestinians and the root causes of the Gaza conflict seem not to register.

The ending of the Gaza truce did not happen in a vacuum.  For many months (some might say years), every border crossing has been blocked by Israel; basic food supplies, medicines, cooking fuel and electricity have been doled out at the will and whim of the Israeli authorities, Hamas members designated as legitimate targets for assassination. 

There is no economy in Gaza because you can’t have an economy without having a way to bring in and ship out materials.  The Israeli Defense Minister complains that Palestinians are exaggerating the loss of life and injuries caused by the bombing in order to gain sympathy.  Yet journalists who want to see what is happening have been refused entry.

An international law states that in wartime retaliation must be proportionate to the offense.  The death of more than 500 Palestinians and upward of 2,000 injuries (as of this writing) as against fewer than several deaths on the Israeli side including civilians, is in no way proportionate.  Now Israeli ground troops have entered Gaza.  The UN has called for cease fire.  Israel refuses.  If we continue to support Israel’s massive program of slaughter, we will be complicit and viewed by the world in that light.

Grace Siler

Bonners Ferry