http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/speak_out/article/0,2777,DRMN_23970_5156501,00.html

Speakout: Israeli depredations must be curbed

November 20, 2006
The latest massacre in Gaza of 18 members of the Athamna family, including eight children, who were sleeping in their beds, is another example of the level of contempt with which the Israel government views Palestinian lives. The regular use of disproportionate firepower against a trapped population not only violates international law but also contradicts the basic civilized conduct of any responsible government.
On Sept. 21, Israeli forces stormed a house "and beat the house owner who is deaf." When the man's wife, whose name was Etimad, protested the beating, a soldier shot her multiple times. Israeli soldiers prevented ambulances from reaching the house to save the woman. Etimad bled for five hours before she died. On June 9, the Israeli military opened fire on Palestinian beachgoers, killing eight members of the Ghalia family, including a 5-month-old infant named Haitham.

On July 12, Israeli forces murdered eight members of the Salmeya family, including six children, while they were sleeping in their beds. On July 26, Israeli shelling killed a mother, Sumaiya, and her two little girls, Maria and Shahd. On Jan. 4, Israeli forces killed seven Palestinian children who were harvesting strawberries in the family field. Six of the murdered boys were from the Ghaben family.

This disregard for international agreements and conventions demonstrated by the Israeli government has turned back the clock to the time of the barbarians.

Soldiers of the Israeli Defense Forces have murdered children for throwing stones at army tanks. Israeli soldiers have claimed that the children represented a "security" threat to them. Israel justifies these attacks as military responses to a simple homemade device called the Qassam "firecracker" rocket. But Israeli politicians do not believe that the Qassam creates a threat to Israeli security. In fact, Shimon Peres, has commented that "This hysteria over the Qassams must end."

The Israeli response to the international outcry over its war crimes has become as predictable as a broken record. First, they deny culpability. Then they claim a "mistake." If international attention remains focused on the crime, the Israelis launch an investigation that "naturally" concludes the murdered victims brought the tragedy upon themselves.

The recent crime in Gaza-Beit Hanoon is yet another in a series of crimes committed by the Israelis against the Palestinian people. The systematic indiscriminate murder of civilians and the illegal collective imprisonment of a whole nation have been slowly suffocating the life out of the Palestinians. The brutal act of imprisoning 1.4 million people in an attempt to bring a whole nation to its knees is evidence of depraved Israeli policy. The sadistic conduct of preventing medical help from reaching the injured while Israeli soldiers watch is in violation of laws of man and of God.

Brutality has never brought peace to any country or people. Slavery, apartheid and Nazi concentration camps have eventually brought ruin and disgrace upon the perpetrators. All acts of mass slaughter of innocent civilians must be condemned by people of all faiths.

A special responsibility sits with people belonging to the Jewish tradition. After all, these atrocities continue to be committed in their names. It is time that they stand up and defend the Jewish faith from being associated with acts of heartlessness. We have yet to hear even a whisper of disapproval coming out of the American Jewish leadership. This silence from the Jewish community about Israeli atrocities is unconscionable.

As Americans we must understand that the world sees the United States as a collaborator in this endless carnage. The F-16s that drop Israeli death decrees upon the Palestinians were "Made in the USA." We finance and enable the perpetrators to commit these crimes with impunity and in violation of our own laws. The U.S. Arms Export Control Act restricts the use of U.S. weapons to legitimate self-defense. The U.S Foreign Assistance Act prohibits aid of any kind to a country known for its gross human rights violations.

We must demand that our representatives follow the law of the land. We must ask them to ensure that the American people are not complicit in these atrocities. Then we must work together, as Americans of all faiths, to protect innocent people in any country from injustice and brutality.

Denver resident Rima Barakat is a Palestinian-American and a frequent speaker on issues concerning the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. She can be contacted at barakat@att.net.