MICHIGAN, 30 November — In the wake of Secretary of State Powell’s speech on US policy in the Middle East, I feel that it is important that we, Americans, address the issue.
Imagine that a foreign army has occupied your town and soldiers from that army have shot your daughter, bulldozed your house down, plopped their new mobile home down on your land and imposed South African-like apartheid laws on your family. How would you feel? You’d be livid. For over 30 years, the Palestinian people have suffered the brutality, humiliation and deprivation of the Israeli occupation. Israel’s denial and slanderous propaganda statements regarding the occupation fuel their anger further. Israelis are not keeping peace; they are perpetuating violence and the United States seems to be their ally in this war.
I do not understand why the US continually renews its allegiances to Israel. I am an American and I am embarrassed by our foreign policy. We attempt to mediate peace talks, but, in the background, we reward Israel with monetary and political support. The Israeli government practices state-sponsored terrorism and has killed over 900 Palestinian citizens this year alone. In addition to this grave fact, we have a military man like Ariel Sharon leading the country. Sharon’s resume is not "promising". He oversaw the notorious massacre of Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps, where more than a thousand people were tortured and murdered. And his policies do not promote the peace process; They do quite the opposite, and he seems to be comfortable with the violence. I am horrified that a man like him controls nuclear weapons.
What is the United States thinking? I know that we have strategic interest in Israel and President Bush has repeatedly said that, "Israel has no greater friend than the United States". But why should we contribute to these injustices? It is wrong. Israel continues to violate UN resolutions, the Geneva Convention and a myriad of human rights regulations that the rest of the world has to observe. It has no respect for the law. Torture is common.
Of course, all of this is in the interest of Israeli security. But what about Palestinian security? All these human rights violations just encourage the Palestinians to fight. If Israel were to end its illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories, cease its unlawful settlements and confiscation of Palestinian land, and allow the millions of Palestinian refugees to come back to their homeland, as demanded by international law, then the Palestinians would finally be in a position to live a life with dignity. Thus the country could begin a life of realistic peace.
End the occupation and you have a chance for peace. Generations of Palestinians have only known violence and economic despair. In its position as world leader, the US has an opportunity to promote peace and we must act on this. We must stop all funding to Israel. Why does Israel need more funding than the whole continent of Africa? My tax dollars buy the weapons that rain down on the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. It is an outrage and it must stop.
We need a two-state solution. End the occupation; we need to have international monitors observe the atrocities Israel has gone virtually unpunished for. The Palestinian population will no longer accept the intolerable conditions of life imposed upon them. Every US citizen should tell his or her government to stop all funding to Israel. The Israeli Army is escalating the violence. They routinely use helicopter gunships and tanks against the civilian population.
I want peace and freedom for both the Israelis and the Palestinians. The only way this can happen is by ending the occupation. People have been oppressed for too long. Give the Palestinians back their freedom and human dignity. And peace will follow.
