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Dear Friends:
The civilian target attacked and destroyed by the Israeli Air Force last
week in retaliation for the killing of 2 IDF soldiers and the kidnapping
of another will be paid for by the US taxpayer. Three quarters of Gaza's
people - men, women, children, elderly, hospitals, are without power and
will be for months because of this action. Bridges were destroyed as
well. And the Israeli Air Force has been flying nightly missions over
Gaza whose only purpose is to produce sonic booms in the middle of the
night. Not only do they disrupt people's sleep, they cause psychological
damage, esp. in children. International law specifically bars this type
of action for reasons that should be pretty obvious. But collective
punishment of civilians in the Palestinian population is not only
commonplace, it is the standard of 40 years of occupation.
The irony is that extreme military action is likely to have the opposite
result of its intention. First: if people perceive that they have no
rights, no freedom, no state; can have their land taken at any time, can
be attacked at any time (14 civilians were killed by Israeli rockets and
artillery in Gaza the 2 weeks prior to the kidnapping) by a massively
superior force, then they operate under the assumption that they have
nothing to lose anyway. Second, if they have already paid a "high price"
in the form of these massive attacks, they are likely to conclude that
they've already paid the price so why release the captive?
It's important to note that the initial demands of the captors were the
release of the 500+ women, and 100+ children held in Israeli jails.
That's right, women and children. They are part of the over 6,000
Palestinians "arrested" mostly during the IDF operations in the West
Bank in 2002-3. It's not much of a stretch to view these arrests as
kidnappings themselves, as there were no official charges, no judges, no
subpoenas, no proof, no legal representation, no trials. They are simply
being held against their will - for years now. 6,000 people. Mothers,
uncles, brothers, children, sisters.... Kidnapping cannot be justified
by anyone. But when Palestinians see the overwhelming response to one
Israeli soldier being kidnapped, and see that still no one cares about
the 6,000 of their own who are held illegally in jails for years...
well, how would you feel? Are they not as human?
Israel has every right to protect itself (as do Palestinians), but is a
wildly disproportionate military response the only option? Why haven't
any sort of negotiations been tried? Oh of course, they can't negotiate
w "terrorists". That is a very convenient word, one that has been used
in the last 5 years to justify an awful lot of actions outside the law.
The truth is this is nonsense. First, Israel has exchanged prisoners
many times in the past. But even aside from that - who else do you
negotiate with than your opponent? What - they have to agree w you on
everything first, before you negotiate w them? Israel could negotiate w
Abbas anytime it wishes. It could have done so in the 1 1/2 years he was
President BEFORE Hamas was elected. If it had, Hamas might not have won
in the first place. The track record is: no negotiating and lots of
excuses why.
Force doesn't work. Oh they may bumble into the soldier's release, I
hope they do for his sake. But until Israel decides to treat its
opponents as fellow human beings whose objectives are just as
legitimate, and negotiate with them, instead of pounding their entire
civilian population with this massive military (which we supply and even
help pay for with our aid), it will never have the safety and security
it wants and deserves.
In the meantime: a.) our aid is used to destroy civilian Palestinian
targets; b.) Israel is not held accountable for these illegal actions;
and c.) we get to pay for the repair. Quite a scam we are involved in!
Fair and open negotiation is the only way to justice, and justice is the
only way to peace.
Peter J. Nagle M.A.R
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