Friends,
My letter was published. However, another letter was also published, and the heading was “Israel is in the right, and Hamas is in the wrong.” That letter made no mention of the occupation or the assault on the Al-Aqsa Mosque. And the letter-writer failed to indicate how many children were killed in Gaza. So somehow, this letter writer concluded that Israel was right and Hamas was wrong, possibly because the Israelis killed more people than Hamas. Kagiso, Max
Israel’s apartheid treatment of Palestinians must end | READER COMMENTARY
FOR THE BALTIMORE SUN |
MAY 20, 2021 AT 11:49 AM
People inspect
the rubble of the destroyed Abu Hussein building that was hit by an Israeli
airstrike early morning, in Gaza City, Wednesday, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Adel
Hana) (Adel Hana/AP)
I was part of a human rights delegation to the occupied territories of Palestine in 1987 and became familiar with the use of rubber bullets, which are very capable of killing. This trip was during the first intifada, and I visited many homes where the Israeli Defense Force killed a child for alleged stone-throwing.
During the subsequent years, there has been an escalation in state and settler violence against the Palestinians (”Biden calls for ‘significant de-escalation’ from Israel as Gaza conflict continues,” May 19). The armed assault on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the airstrikes in Gaza, including the destruction of a building which housed media groups, are some recent examples. Unfortunately, my government supports this horrific violence by word and $3.8 billion in U.S. tax dollars.
I find it very timely, though, that as the settler colonialism and the Jim Crow citizenship laws are getting more oppressive, on April 27 Human Rights Watch released “A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution.” This is remarkable and very fitting considering that Israel lacks a government, and its ultra-right prime minister is looking at years in prison. So what better way to turn attention away from his judicial problems than to bomb back to the Stone Age one of the poorest plots of land in the world?
As a pacifist and believer in nonviolence, I urge Hamas to reconsider its violent response to on obdurate Israeli government. Of course, it is easy for me to say turn the other cheek, as I am not suffering under an oppressive occupation. However, I have to believe that someday there will be a U.S. government unbiased against the Palestinians which will work tirelessly to end this apartheid occupation.
Max Obuszewski, Baltimore
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Friday, May 21, 2021
'End the Occupation': Progressives Say Cease-Fire Far From Enough to Secure Justice for Palestinians
Rep. Ilhan Omar said the U.S. government must "stop
underwriting crimes against humanity while doing nothing to end the
occupation."
Palestinians
return to their destroyed houses after a cease-fire deal on May 21, 2021.
(Photo: Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
While welcoming
the cease-fire agreement that brought about a desperately
needed pause to Israel's 11-day assault on the besieged Gaza
Strip, progressive lawmakers and Palestinian rights advocates stressed Thursday
that an end to the bombing in itself will neither rebuild the devastated
territory nor remedy decades of harm inflicted by the brutal Israeli
occupation.
Primarily
brokered by diplomats from Egypt, Qatar, and the United Nations, the deal
marked a temporary reprieve for Palestinians who have been living in a state
of near-constant
terror for close to two weeks as Israeli war planes dropped
bombs on densely populated residential areas, reduced apartment buildings to
rubble, leveled the offices of media outlets, badly damaged key medical
facilities, and wreaked havoc on Gaza's fresh water and sewer systems.
Israel's
aerial and artillery attacks ultimately killed more than 230 Palestinians,
including dozens of children, according to Gaza's health ministry. Israeli
authorities said Hamas rocket attacks killed 12 people.
After the
cease-fire agreement was announced late Thursday afternoon, U.S. President Joe
Biden said his
administration is "committed to working with the United Nations and other
international stakeholders to provide rapid humanitarian assistance and to
marshal international support for the people of Gaza and the Gaza
reconstruction efforts."
"I
believe the Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely
and to enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity, and democracy," the
president added.
But to
help bring about such a reality, progressives argued that Biden—who dragged his
feet in supporting a cease-fire, excused Israel's
assault on Gaza as self-defense, and is currently trying to sell $735
million more in weapons to the Israeli government—will have to offer far more
than rhetorical commitments.
"A
cease-fire is necessary, but will not alone achieve freedom, justice, and
equality for all who live under Israel's apartheid government," said Rep.
Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the first Palestinian-American woman ever elected to
Congress. "The U.S. must condition funding to uphold human rights, and end
the funding entirely if those conditions are not met."
Rep.
Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)—who, like Tlaib, was highly critical of Biden's handling
of the latest wave of Israeli violence in Gaza—tweeted late
Thursday that "we should all be grateful that a cease-fire will prevent
more civilians and children from being killed."
"But
now what?" the Minnesota Democrat asked. "We need accountability for
every war crime committed. And we need to stop underwriting crimes against
humanity while doing nothing to end the occupation."
On Friday
morning, after the fragile cease-fire held overnight, Gazans who were forced to
flee their homes to escape Israeli airstrikes returned to their devastated
neighborhoods, sifting through the ruins in search of belongings and
bodies trapped under
the wreckage.
"We
see such huge destruction here, it's the first time in history we've seen
this," Azhar Nsair, a resident of the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, told the Associated
Press. "The cease-fire is for people who didn't suffer, who didn't
lose their loved ones, whose homes were not bombed."
Citing an
anonymous senior Biden administration official, the New York Times reported that
the U.S. government intends "to be at the fore of an international response,
most likely costing billions of dollars, to include restoring health and
education services, and other reconstruction" in Gaza.
"Biden
is expected to consider other initiatives," the Times added.
"American diplomats who had shelved the prospects of brokering a broader
peace agreement between the two sides will take a new look at the issue of
Israeli settlements in the West Bank, said the senior official."
But
Palestinian rights advocates made clear that money for rebuilding efforts and
gentle diplomatic prodding of the right-wing Israeli government will not be
anywhere near enough to secure justice as long as forced expulsions of
Palestinians from their homes continue, the 14-year blockade of Gaza remains
intact, and the occupation Palestinian territory persists.
"Repeat
after me: Gaza does not need your pity, it needs your advocacy and
understanding," said Laila
El-Haddad, a Palestinian-American author and activist. "It does not need a
cease-fire, it needs a cease-siege and cease-occupation. Our people do not need
food aid, they need their freedom."
Our work
is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish
and share widely.
Donations can be sent
to Max Obuszewski, Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 431 Notre Dame Lane, Apt. 206,
Baltimore, MD 21212. Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at]
comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their
lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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