Stop supporting Israel

After returning from Gaza this past September, I am in a funk. Israel is currently massacring my friends in the Gaza Strip during this past two weeks. Before it is over, Israel will kill over a thousand Gazans and critically wound thousands more; this is unconscionable.

The homemade Qassam missiles, which are the excuse this time for Israel’s massive killing campaign in Gaza, have only killed about 20 Israelis these last eight years. Many more have died in car accidents on Israeli roads, yet I don’t see anyone talking about a driving moratorium in Israel. This is a ruse so Israel can avoid diplomacy and pursue more ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homeland.

Unqualified American support for Israeli atrocities is ruining our image around the world. We are no longer the good guys. We have become addicted to war and belligerency. Our Middle East policies have become pure fascism. Obama must stop his silence over Bush’s collusion with this Israeli blitzkrieg. Our leaders must stop financing the Jewish apartheid state with our taxpayer dollars and start standing up for social justice and human rights of all who live in the Holy Land. Instead of a Jewish supremacist state, we should instead insist on a democratic secular state for all the people who live in the area, including the Palestinians. Equal rights for all!

Bill Dienst

Omak, Wash.