The Crisis in Gaza, Part 2

In the two weeks since Israel has been shelling Gaza, the Palestinian death toll is now up to 760 with no end in sight. In a 14-0 vote, the United Nations Security Council demanded an immediate cease-fire and called for the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Who abstained from this vote? The United States. And here lies the problem with our democracy. The Israeli lobby is one of the most powerful lobbies in the United States and instead of politicians doing what is right by Palestine, they would rather not ruffle the feathers of a group that funds their campaigns.

In a related news story, the Washington Post reported today that "The Red Cross has accused the Israeli military of repeatedly refusing to grant permission for ambulances to go to Zaytoun(neighborhood), even though soldiers were stationed outside the damaged houses and were aware people were wounded inside." In a statement issued early Thursday, the agency called the episode "unacceptable" and said the Israeli military had "failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and evacuate the wounded."

I would also like to point out that when you hear reports out of Israel that the reason there are so many civilian casualties in Gaza is because Hamas is cowardly hiding out in civilian populations - let me remind you that Gaza is a strip of land that is roughly 27 miles long and 6 miles wide with a population of approximately 1.5 MILLION PEOPLE. It is probably the most densely populated area in the world. There is no place to hide in Gaza.

Doesn't Palestine bring this on themselves by sending suicide bombers into Israel? Doesn't Israel have the right to defend themselves? Of course, Israel has the right to defend themselves, but you first have to ask yourself what makes Palestinians so angry that they are willing to blow themselves up in the first place? If you converted to Judaism today, you could fly out to Israel and become a citizen, no questions asked, and if there is no room for you, they will simply bulldoze a Palestinian's home to make room for you. They've been doing this for years while packing the Palestinian population like sardines in tiny strips of land controlled by Israel. There's a term for this - it's called "ethnic cleansing." Meanwhile, the United States says that it must defend the "sole democracy in the Middle East." But, I ask, what good is a democracy if it acts like a dictatorship?