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.