Israel and Palestine

The Greek folk adage states: ” When the buffaloes battle in the marsh, it’s the ants that pay.”

I was appalled by the disproportionate and ineffective Israeli response to the desperate Hamas rocket attacks. School and water plants damaged, the Palestinian civilian casualties, and in particular the haunting image of the young girl buried in rubble for many hours. Sadly the israeli have become the oppressors that they have faced throughout history.

Gaza and the West Bank are not much different from the notorious WWII Warsaw Jewish ghetto. There are no official concentration camps, but the Palestinian people are dying a slow death from a lack of opportunity, medical care, and freedom. Ironically there was an interesting article in today’s SR about a brave Jewish woman’s fight against the Nazis during WWII.

I see not much difference between the Hamas leadership and the neo fascist Netanyahu, both following the mentality of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” treating the other Semite tribe as the subhuman Der Untermensch. Hamas targets civilians and the Israeli leadership doesn’t mind innocent loss. Hamas is despicable, but it wouldn’t exist if the Palestinian people had lives of dignity.

Most disturbing is the role of the U.S. government and our tax dollars to blindly support Israel, and abet the immoral American weapons manufacturers. No more genocide in our name, no more credence the myth that Israel is just defending itself. Any US aid to both parties should be conditional on settling this ongoing madness.

Chris Haralam

Spokane