Historical lessons could help the Middle East

Here's another letter about the Israel Palestine situtation that was published in The Lowell Sun . Here's the link to the origninal letter . It was written partialy in response to this response to my previous letter.


The author of the letter "How Hamas used its own citizens to gain fame," published on June 23, is right that Hamas is an organization that has committed numerous and horrendous crimes. However, the assertion that "the biggest share of funds, those that were destined to support the people of Gaza, do not reach them. It goes to Hamas," is not borne out by the facts. One of the primary reasons for Hamas' popularity is its success in creating strong social programs, which the corrupt Fatah did not do. The Israeli scholar Reuven Paz estimates that "approximately 90 percent of its work is in social, welfare, cultural, and educational activities." As much as we may despise Hamas and what they represent they are the elected government of Gaza and until the Palestinians do something about it, they will be in power.

The United States government accepts and supports the Israeli government despite its crimes, including dropping white phosphorous (a chemical that causes third-degree burns) on the people of Gaza. They accept and support the Saudi government despite their barbaric practice of public executions. Why is Hamas a special case?

Clearly, ostracizing Hamas has not worked. Western countries have continuously tried this method to weaken governments and organizations they oppose. History tells us that this only serves to strengthen the organizations. One only needs to consider the more than a decade-long sanctions against Saddam Hussein's brutal dictatorship; they did little to weaken his power, while resulting in innocent deaths that are estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands.

Then what could work? Again history can teach us a lesson. For decades there was mutual antagonism between the IRA and the British government in Ireland. The British government refused to recognize the legitimacy of the IRA's claims and the violence between both sides continued. Only when the rights of the Catholic population of Northern Ireland were acknowledged (in the Good Friday agreement) by the British government and violence was renounced on both sides did the prospects for peace begin to improve. A similar story played out in South Africa, with Nelson Mandela's African National Congress, a group that was designated a terrorist organization for years.

If we can learn these lessons from history, there is certainly hope for peace in the Middle East.

There's Another Side to Blockade's Impact

Here's another letter to the editor I had published in The Lowell Sun (original link). I'm responding to some points made in this letter.

The author of the letter to the editor -- "Israel's actions to defend blockade justified (The Sun, June14)" -- makes some interesting and compelling arguments about the free Gaza flotilla attack and Israel's policies. Unfortunately, I fear it also reflects some misconceptions.

The author is quite right when saying nobody can enter sovereign territory of an independent state without its permission. However, the flotilla was not trying to enter Israel; it was trying to enter the Gaza strip, which is, according to the U.N., occupied territory. If one considers the blockade of Gaza illegitimate (as Amnesty International and Oxfam among others do), then the flotilla had all the right in the world to breach it.

The author also makes the point "the blockade is against Hamas terrorists, not against people of Gaza." The blockade was indeed put into place after Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza strip from Fatah in 2007. Unfortunately the blockade affects the 1.5 million people in Gaza much more than it affects Hamas. Numerous human rights reports, including the U.N.'s Goldstone report, have enumerated the harmful effect the blockade has had on the people of Gaza.

Responding to a point about United States military aid to Israel, the author rhetorically asks, "So Israel can't use weapons to protect its own border?" Israel certainly does have a right to self-defense against aggression, but when anywhere from 295 (according to the Israel Defense Force) to 926 civilians (according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights) were killed during Operation Cast Lead by arms largely supplied by the United States, I believe it necessary to question the policy. Palestinian civilians do not deserve to be punished for the crimes of their government any more than Israeli civilians deserve to be published for the crimes of theirs.

The author makes some very good points. This is an important issue, and it is good to know that others are actively engaged in it.

A massacre in International Waters

Here's a letter to the editor I had published in the Lowell Sun (original link) about the United State's relationship with Palestine and Israel. You can read the other 300 comments here, most of which are irrelevant to the article. Here is someone's response.

The Israeli military's recent unprovoked attack against a flotilla of international-aid workers in international waters bringing much-needed supplies to the occupied Gaza Strip is just the latest in a long line of insane actions committed by the government of Israel. The flotilla contained an Irish winner of the Nobel peace prize, an elderly holocaust survivor and several European members of parliament. This event adds itself to a growing list of irrational actions committed by the Israeli government, including the announcement of additional illegal settlements being built in East Jerusalem when Vice President Joe Biden was a guest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the barring of MIT professor Noam Chomsky from entering the occupied West Bank to give a series of talks. Unfortunately, these crimes, which we only hear about because they directly involve westerners, are not nearly the most grievous committed by the Israeli government.

While the media covers the Israeli Defense Force's massacre of the individuals aboard the flotilla, it has said little about Israel and Egypt's three-year blockade against the people of Gaza, which has resulted in enormous suffering on the part of the Palestinians. And while we hear about the vice president's anger about Israel's settlement announcement, we hear nothing about the continued theft of Palestinian land. And while we hear about Chomsky (in addition to other peace activists, including former President Jimmy Carter) being barred from entering the occupied West Bank, we hear nothing about the untold number of Palestinians who cannot travel freely and are prevented from seeing family in Gaza, the West Bank or even Israel. What Israel did to the flotilla was an enormous strategic blunder on their part, because while the west is prepared to ignore crimes when they are committed against unknown poor Palestinians, it cannot do this when the crimes are committed against westerners.

It is time that the United States and the western world rethink their policies toward Israel. Although there are some worse regimes in the world than the one in Israel, most do not function with the absolute support of the United States, as Israel has for the past 40 years. Israel's army functions primarily with U.S. military support on the order of billions of dollars. It is very likely that the ships used to board the flotilla and the weapons used to kill its occupants were financed or even built in the United States. This is sad, but true. It is time that the United States ends all military aid to Israel and other countries with little regard for human rights. Only when this happens can a peace process really begin.