Gaza Evacuation 8-17-2005

17, August 2005                                 Gaza Evacuation

We Americans must share the blame for the fiasco masquerading as US Middle East policy. We have funded Israel's occupation, colonization of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem and must therefore share the responsibility of aiding and abetting the enormous repression and suffering of the Palestinians. American Jews and the former settlers of Gaza should vent their anger and outrage against the Israeli government and Ariel Sharon, the undisputed architect of these illegal settlements. Since the inception of Israel in 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from their land and thousands of acres expropriated for the exclusive use of Israel's Jewish citizens.

Israeli historians, Israeli Human rights organizations and leading Israeli journalist, Amira Mass, have been highly critical of Israel's apartheid policy of ethnic cleansing. Consider one example of such a disparity. A majority of the Jewish settlers have accepted a compensation package - between $150,000 to $400,000 - from the Israeli government in return for leaving Gaza. In addition, they are reimbursed removal expenses and receive 2 years free rent! By contrast the thousands of Palestinians working for the settlers will receive nothing. Israel is seeking an additional $2 billion dollars in more aid to help defray operating costs to vacate the Gaza Strip which was seized illegally! While much of the world focuses on the evacuation of the Gaza Strip, Israel continues to build more settlements in the West Bank and is expropriating more Palestinian land to construct the apartheid wall. Such actions tarnish the image of the Jewish faith which is supposedly  based on truth, peace and justice for all.

Israel 8-3-2005

3, August 2005                        Response to local letter RE: Israel

It is a pity that Shree Roth (Daily Tuesday August 2) failed to digest the premise of my letter regarding reparations for actions violating basic human rights. Roth's blinkered vision of the Middle East betrays her obvious bias. Roth fails to condemn the polices of the Bush administration which has caused so much suffering to the Iraqi people. The 'shock and awe' campaign based on 'cooked intelligence' has resulted in tens of thousands of Iraqi fatalities and over 1800 US soldiers. We attacked a sovereign state who posed no threat to us and we are therefore morally responsible to compensate the Iraqis for loss of life and property. Has Roth ignored our own history? Our ancestors were the enemy combatants or insurgents repelling the imperial armies of the British.

My original letter asked the Muslim community to unequivocally condemn the actions of the suicide bombers and offer to pay reparations to the families of the victims. Roth may not be aware that a disproportionate number of Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army. International and Israeli human rights groups have condemned such killings. Should not the families of all victims be compensated? Killing innocent civilians can never be justified and must be universally condemned. These are crimes against humanity and violate the basic tenets all religious faiths.

Israel undermining the PA 8-1-2005

1, August 2005                       Israel undermining the PA

It has patently evident to the most doubting Thomas that Ariel Sharon is hoping that the Palestinian Authority (PA) and President Mahmoud Abbas will implode following the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Sharon has made every effort to undermine Abbas’s PA and prevent it becoming a potent force to maintain law and order and thus serve as a reason to continue to maintain check points, and persecution of the Palestinians. Consider the facts. The PA was destroyed by the Israeli military three years ago and ceased to function as a stabilizing force to maintain law and order. Currently it is ill-equipped and under-armed and is in desperate need to have its security equipment upgraded. The US government has finally acknowledged this dire need and appointed Lt. General William Ward to coordinate the overhaul of PA’s arms and equipment. Predictably, the Israeli government has prevented the importation of new armed vehicles and a fresh supply of arms. This is yet another shameful example of the ‘the tail wagging the dog’ to ensure the PA fails in its mission thereby allowing Israel to continue its oppression of the Palestinian people and theft of its land and resources.