Washington, DC – Years ago, while talking with my mother about the notion that life was sacred, the discussion turned to the morality of the death penalty. She, a God-fearing, traditional, devout Catholic lady, asked what we should do instead to replace it. My response was that when you are doing something you know is morally wrong, you stop. You don’t wait around until you think of something else.
The United States is currently supporting Israel in its ethnic cleansing in both Gaza and the West Bank under the extremely tired rubric of the right to defend itself. Israel has an entire army and air force equipped with all the newest, fanciest stuff we can sell them. On the other side are folks armed with some rockets, guns, and a few drones. While it is sure that some militants were killed, there have been over 40,000 people killed, including many children. There is disease and imminent starvation, polluted water, and constant directives that the still living must move because the Israeli military intends to blow up where they currently abide, again. Journalists and humanitarian volunteers are killed even when they have been assured of safe passage.
A recent poll of Americans suggests that this carnage can go on until the hostages are freed, which shows that Americans care more about the hostages than the Israeli government does. One must assume that these hostages are being fed and cared for no better than those holding them, which suggests that many have been killed by the military incursion or died from the same diseases and lack of food that has decimated the Gaza population.
As the so-called “cease-fire” talks go on, Israeli troops are invading the West Bank, apparently unsatisfied with the klan-like tactics of the settler’s slow attempts to “persuade” the current non-Jewish residents being terrorized by the constant raids, whose houses and cars are burned, to try to save themselves and their families and abandon their decimated property and leave. It worked well here after reconstruction, and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so apparently, the settlers just admire the heck out of our klannies.
Back to my dear Mom. What is occurring in Israel is wrong. It should stop. We should stop pretending that there is any moral justification for it. “From the river to the sea” is the plan. Drive off or kill the Muslims, usurp the homes and orchards, arrogate the property to the State, and distribute it to more deserving folks. In the end, there will be no need for a Palestinian state within what Israel claims is their rightful heritage since three or four millennia ago, their God said so, because Netanyahu and his fanatical cronies will have driven off or killed every single Palestinian in the area between the river and the sea. This has been a slow-moving tactic for decades, with the so-called “settlers” taking more and more land, often extrajudicially and at times blocking the non-Jewish owners from reaching their orchards and fields and the ongoing policy of destroying the homes and livelihoods of the families of anyone they have accused of anti-Israeli activity.
It’s not surprising that the United States continues to go along with this madness, after all, we drove the Natives who lived on this land into reservations and continue to violate every treaty we made with those tribes; we ignored the activities of the Klan and invented myriad rules policies and laws to prevent former slaves and their descendants from owning property, voting and accessing the rights of citizenship.
As noted, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
M.A. Callahan
- M.A. Callahan#molongui-disabled-link
- M.A. Callahan#molongui-disabled-link
- M.A. Callahan#molongui-disabled-link
- M.A. Callahan#molongui-disabled-link
