Middle East Peace Policy

The following is not meant to be taken as against the Jewish religion. There are many Jewish people that support peace and opposed the recent Gaza war. Additionally, I strongly condemn the indiscriminate killing of civilians by any organization whether it is Hamas and Al Qaeda, or the American and Israeli governments. This is the only consistent position.

Hamas was unjustified in killing three civilians, and likewise the Israel government was unjustified in killing over 700 civilians. We are told terrorism is when poorer groups kill civilians with less sophisticated instruments of death. But when Israel or America kills hundreds of times as many civilians with costly warplanes and missiles, it is not terrorism. The dead are merely “collateral damage” or “human shields”.

Whenever civilians are indiscriminately killed it is terrorism, and both sides were guilty. Hamas rockets kill few civilians, but the greater terrorist aspect is the fear Israeli citizens must endure. Similarly, whenever Israeli bombs are dropped on buildings, civilians die. There is no such thing as a discriminate “smart” bomb when dropped in densely populated urban areas.

Estimates found 1,330 Gaza residents were killed, including 437 children. Approximately one-third of the dead were children because families were trapped and could not flee.
Moreover, Israel was targeting civilian infrastructure like water treatment facilities, hospitals, schools and houses of worship. They even bombed a well-known U.N. school and headquarters that were housing civilians whom had evacuated from other areas, killing dozens and destroying tons of humanitarian aid.

It is important to correct another record; it was Israel that broke the ceasefire. On November 4, 2008, the ceasefire broke down when Israel conducted an air and ground raid, killing six. Moreover, Israel also failed to uphold the ceasefire terms by refusing to lift the U.S. backed blockade. This blockade prevented food, medicine, energy and water supplies from entering Gaza. This led to rampant suffering, malnutrition, especially among children, and hundreds of deaths.

This blockade, like the Israeli and Hamas bombings, is considered “collective punishment” in violation of international law. The International Committee of the Red Cross publicly stated Israel was also breaking international law by preventing ambulance access to bombed areas. After finally gaining access to one area, the ICRC found four small children sitting near their dead mothers. The starving children were too weak to even stand. The bodies and children were evacuated using donkey carts due to large earthen barriers Israel constructed.

In the most alarming evidence of a war crime I witnessed, there are videos online of young children executed by Israeli soldiers shooting them directly in the chest and head.

Not only must we condemn Hamas and Israel’s actions, but more importantly, we must criticize our complicit government. Our government annually provides billions in subsidies to Israel for our missiles and F16s. Even worse, when Israel commits such atrocities, our government obediently approves, which is precisely why many Arabs harbor hatred toward America. Unqualified support for Israel was the primary motive for 9-11, but our government and media misled us into believing it was because they “hate our freedom”.

Recently, Congress almost unanimously passed a resolution giving full endorsement to Israel’s attacks, which is banal considering Senator Fulbright said in 1973 on Face the Nation, “Israel controls the U.S. Senate.”

So, how does Israel control our government, especially when Americans are evenly divided over Israel’s attacks?

I recently encountered an enlightening NYT letter written by Einstein in 1948. The letter warned Americans of the emergence of the Israeli “Freedom Party”, which was founded on “fascist” ideology, and the founding members belonged to a “terrorist, right-wing, chauvinist” organization called Irgun. Importantly, Irgun was a direct ancestor to the current right-wing Israeli parties. The letter also warns of “irreparable damage…by way of financial contributions” to America by this group.

Unfortunately, Einstein’s concerns likely materialized. Many of the largest campaign donors in America are right-wing, Israeli-interested millionaires and billionaires. Moreover, the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is one of the most powerful lobby groups. Essentially all our political leaders ritualistically bend over and lick AIPAC toes during fundraising season.

So, what are the solutions?

Fundamentally, full public campaign financing is required to eliminate the corrupting influence of private money in our elections. Only then can our politicians provide even-handed policies in the Middle East.

In terms of Israel, the brutal occupation, sanctions, destruction of nearly 20,000 Palestinian homes since 1967, and hundreds of illegal, apartheid colonial settlements must end. These counterproductive policies only create more animosity.

Additionally, responding to terrorism with terrorism only creates more terrorism. A more constructive peace policy would engage all political groups within Palestine, including Hamas, which is no more extreme than the right-wing Israeli parties, and was democratically elected.

By giving Hamas some legitimacy, they would be drawn away from violence to gain international political recognition. This was occurring after they won the elections; they began moderating some of their extreme positions.

Ultimately, all parties must evolve and fight with words. Instead of hard powers of war and sanctions, we must use soft powers of diplomacy, treaties and cross-cultural influence and understanding.