PEACE AND JUSTICE

Elation, Hopefulness. Optimism… those are the emotions that I have felt since the November election victory of Barack Obama. The swearing in ceremony, parade, inaugural balls, fireworks and celebration are only ten days away, and yet the optimism I once felt is slipping away. When I read the headline US Senate Supports Israel's Gaza Incursion , and the quote concerning the Senate’s non-binding resolution... It (the Senate) also expresses an "unwavering" commitment to Israel's welfare and recognizes its right to act in self defense to protect citizens against acts of terrorism, I began to wonder once again about the future of this country and the world. All the hoopla of a presidential inauguration and putting new faces at the head table mean nothing when we put a stamp of approval on Israel’s aggression.

No one claims that Hamas is blameless. As Dahr Jamail wrote in The Monstrosity of War, Hamas rockets have killed five Israelis, one of them a soldier and four of them civilians. As with Israeli attacks that kill and wound Palestinian civilians are a war crime, Hamas firing their grossly inaccurate rockets into Israel, which then wound and kill Israeli civilians, is also a war crime. But how can anyone see the scenes of death and destruction in Gaza and believe that what Israel is doing can be justified as a proportional act of defense? A rock (rocket fire) is thrown by desperate, starving, oppressed people and Israel answers with all the modern weaponry that the United States can provide to them. There is evidence now that white phosphorus is being used, including evidence that the rounds have injured Palestinian civilians, causing severe burns. The use of white phosphorus against civilians is prohibited under international law.

In a piece written by former president Jimmy Carter, An Unnecessary War, he describes the situation in the Gaza strip…

After 12 days of "combat," the Israeli Defense Forces reported that more than 1,000 targets were shelled or bombed. During that time, Israel rejected international efforts to obtain a cease-fire, with full support from Washington. Seventeen mosques, the American International School, many private homes and much of the basic infrastructure of the small but heavily populated area have been destroyed. This includes the systems that provide water, electricity and sanitation. Heavy civilian casualties are being reported by courageous medical volunteers from many nations, as the fortunate ones operate on the wounded by light from diesel-powered generators.

In 2003, Rachel Corrie, a 23-year old International Solidarity Movement activist from Olympia, Washington was killed by an American-made bulldozer operated by an Israeli. She was attempting to block the demolition of a Palestinian family’s home in the Gaza Strip. Her story is told in Let Me Stand Alone. There are few of us who have the courage to stand in front of a moving bulldozer… who would be willing to stand alone and unprotected in the path of power and destruction. But can’t we at least recognize and condemn the injustice? Can’t we at least feel empathy and compassion? And act upon it?

United for Peace and Justice
American Friends Service Committee

... P. L. Morningstar
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