Israel committing genocide in Gaza

Dear Editor: Can anyone of good conscience defend Israel’s actions?

A spokeswoman for the Israel Defense Forces claimed the Palestinian protests in Gaza were “far from a peaceful protest. It was a violent riot.”

As I write this, Israeli snipers have already killed some 30 unarmed protesters and wounded hundreds more.

How many Israeli soldiers have been killed? Zero. How many wounded? Zero.

“Israeli soldiers were not merely using excessive force, but were apparently acting on orders that all but ensured a bloody military response to the Palestinian demonstrations,” said Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The result was foreseeable deaths and injuries of demonstrators on the other side of a border who posed no imminent threat to life.”

Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on Earth, with close to 2 million people, a majority of them children under 18, and Israel is slowly strangling them. It is a slow genocide. The population cannot leave or enter the Gaza Strip. They have little freedom to import or export goods. Israel maintains iron-fisted control over the entire Gaza Strip. Over 90 percent of Gaza’s water is contaminated by sewage. Electricity, even in the hospitals, is limited to a few hours daily with a rolling blackout. Conditions imposed on Gaza are similar to what the Nazis imposed on the Warsaw Ghetto.

I have been to Palestine with Veterans For Peace delegations and marched shoulder to shoulder with the Palestinians. We have seen where the violence comes from. Soon, I fear, even by the time this paper comes out, Israel may increase its violence in Gaza. People of good conscience need to do everything they can to stop it or, like those decent people under the Nazis who did nothing, shame and disgrace will follow them like a shadow their entire lives.

Tarak Kauff Veterans For Peace

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