Whatever you think about the very long, ongoing, and endless, crisis in the Middle East, one thing is certain. There never will be peace unless Israel recognizes and respects its Palestinian neighbors. Since 1948, those advocating Zionism, the establishment of a Jewish homeland in their historical homeland, while noble and idealistic, has come at the expense of the Arab residents who had called Palestine home for more than 1,000 years. This was aided and abetted by the western powers, including the U.S., in response to the need to try to right the wrong of the West’s 2,000 years of hateful anti-Semitism, and the collective guilt of what the Nazis did to the Jews during the Holocaust. 

The Jews essentially exiled a large population, and has continued to beat them into submission by keeping more than 2 million people locked up in Gaza, an open air prison, and illegally allowing armed “settlers” in the West Bank to confiscate and brutalize Palestinians and whatever remaining homeland they had left.

The events of Oct. 7, 2023, were indeed horrific for those residents of Israel living near the Gaza border, as well as the entire state of Israel, that has now had to vacate large areas of the country for fear of being attacked. But the brutal and inhumane response of this right-wing, pro-orthodox government by indiscriminately bombing Gaza, killing now over 14,000 (10 times more than were killed by Hamas) is criminal and genocidal. The Israelis should know what genocide is.

I remember the Six-Day War in 1967, and the Yom-Kippur War in ‘73, and was fully supportive of Israel on both occasions. But after seeing years of repressive policies toward Palestinians by their government, especially after Yitzak Rabin’s assassination by a right-wing, orthodox settler in 1995, and the rise of Likud and other conservatives, I really soured on Israel. They had a chance to have peace, but really blew it. Also, Trump’s policies of supporting Israeli deals with other Arab countries at the expense of Palestinians was really stupid. 

I’m sure there are many Israelis that want peace and who don’t support their government’s repressive policies. They need to wrest control from the homicidal Netanyahu and his cronies and work with their neighbors to build the framework for real peace in the area. For every Palestinian killed by the Israelis, there will be 100 recruits for Hamas, Hezbollah, or whatever pro-Palestinian organization crops up, thus leading to more and more Israelis and Palestinians dying.

Palestine needs to be a place where those of all faiths (or none) can live in harmony, not just controlled by one. The U.S. government also needs to withhold any more military support, and stop listening to those fanatical, right-wing evangelicals who have some kind of biblical fantasy of the holy land. Until this happens, there never will be peace there, and Israel’s days are numbered.

Bruce Acciavatti

Salisbury