President Obama,
Tell Mr. Netanyahu, take down this wall. Stop this blockade!
The Israeli attack on the humanitarian flotilla to Gaza and the killing of more than ten unarmed activists by Israeli commandos is the last straw. It is American policy, American money, American intimidation, American weaponry and American shielding of Israel from International Sanctions of any sort which allows, and has allowed, the ongoing Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes, against the Palestine people in Gaza and the West Bank. Keeping 1.5 million Gazans in a virtual concentration camp is an insult not only to their human dignity, but to our own.
Our Iran policy is equally dictated by the same interests and powers which govern our behavior in Palestine. And it is Our Behavior! Few Americans might realize that of a world-wide estimated Jewish population of 13.2 million, more Americans are Jews than Israelis. There are approximately six and a half million American Jews to five and a half million Israeli Jews. Mr. Netanyahu himself has had an American upbringing.
People who have been abused are at risk for being abusers themselves. This is true not just in family matters but in international relations as well. If it hadn’t been for the excessive punitiveness of the Versailles Treaty, it is unlikely the Nazi regime would have come to power in Germany. Similarly, after the Holocaust, Jews reasonably, and understandably, say “Never Again!”, however the actions of the state of Israel towards the occupied and captive Palestinians betray a hatred and cruelty towards other human beings totally unacceptable to ordinary Americans as well as the international community. But it is ordinary American taxpayers, Christians, Jews and Muslims who are funding this hateful behavior.
Jews, having been outrageously abused, are at risk for being outrageous abusers.
Every American knows that while the Jewish population of the US is relatively small, less than 2.5%, the political influence of the Jewish community is far greater than such a small percentage would suggest. It is estimated 60% and 35% of total campaign contributions respectively for the Democratic and Republican Parties come from Jewish sources. This money in no way democratically represents the will of ordinary American Jews. Most of this money is directed to politicians proportional to their support of the right-wing, Likud Party agenda for the state of Israel, and against politicians who are in the least critical of our ‘special relationship’ with Israel.
This dirty money, dirty because of what it insists on buying, has corrupted our Nation’s government. Another President from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, said “The rights of people come before the rights of capital”.
Mr. President, restore our faith in who we are.
Respectfully,
Dan Huck, Boston
