Israel needs to behave with human decency
GRACE SILER
Bonners Ferry
Having returned to Turkey the bodies of the nine victims killed in their raid on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla last week, the Israeli government continues to insist that they shot in self-defense. An autopsy by the Turkish Council of Forensic Medicine tells another story.
Thirty shots in all were fired at the nine men. A 19-year-old U.S. citizen of Turkish descent was shot five times at close range; in the face, in the back of the head, and his leg and back. A 60-year-old protester was also shot at close range; in the temple, chest, hip and back. It was also reported that one of the victims was shot in the head from a helicopter overhead.
Israel contends that there was no need for the flotilla, that ample foodstuff has been allowed into Gaza. But both United Nations and private aid agencies cite the extreme malnutrition of the children there and the serious lack of basic medical supplies.
Israel has consistently blocked shipments of cement, one of the key items included in the flotilla aid package. To understand the importance of cement in this operation, we have only to look back to the winter of 2009 when Israeli forces destroyed thousands of homes on Gaza, as well as the infrastructure needed to provide basic services.
At the same time that the people of Gaza are trapped within its confines, they are even deprived of the cement needed to rebuild their homes so that normal family lives can be possible. With the flotilla highlighting the effects of the blockade on Gaza, people all over the world are responding to the crisis in positive ways but not here.
Why is this government so afraid of Israel that it cannot even bring itself to condemn Israel’s attack on foreign ships in international waters? It is time to end our unqualified support of Israel’s policies. We provide more aid to Israel than to any other nation. This fact is well known everywhere. Thus Israel’s actions help fuel hostility to our own nation. It is time to tie our aid to Israel to changes in their policies so that they conform to recognized standards of human decency.