what is happening in Gaza?

The reaction of so many so-called leaders to what is happening in Gaza chokes me.

I learnt as a child that many Jews were ashamed of the widespread acceptance of the appalling situation in the Warsaw Ghetto and other horrors imposed by the Nazis on Jewish populations under their control. Yet many in Israel and elsewhere seem to have internalized the lesson as meaning that they now must retaliate with violence regardless of circumstances. They seem not to be able to walk in the shoes of another population imprisoned, cut-off, surrounded and suffering deprivation, starvation and bombardment.

An op ed by Rashid Khalidi, a professor of Arab studies at Columbia in Thursday's New York Times provides a background to recent events that is all too sadly missing from Mainstream Media's coverage. IT also includes this statement:
This war on the people of Gaza isn’t really about rockets. Nor is it about “restoring Israel’s deterrence,” as the Israeli press might have you believe. Far more revealing are the words of Moshe Yaalon, then the Israeli Defense Forces chief of staff, in 2002: “The Palestinians must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people.”

A detailed description of life in Gaza before and after the recent renewal of hostilities is provided by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. You can read a summary, or download a full copy, at http://www.anera.org/aboutUs/ANERA-Gaza_Compare.php
The violence against humanity was bad enough before December 27th. Afterwards it shames every human being that we can tolerate such inhumane violence without protest.

Make your voice heard:

1. Go to Change.gov to let the Obama transition team know that you demand:
• Pressure on Israel for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire
• Unimpeded access of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and a lifting of Israel's siege
• An investigation into Israel's misuse of U.S. weapons as a first step toward ending arms transfers to Israel

2. Contact your congressional representatives
You can do so easily from this address: http://tools.advomatic.com/11/Gaza-Ceasefire-Now [ABOUT J STREET: J Street is the political arm of the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement. J Street was founded to promote meaningful American leadership to end the Arab-Israeli and Palestinian-Israel conflicts peacefully and diplomatically. We support a new direction for American policy in the Middle East and a broad public and policy debate about the U.S. role in the region. info@jstreet.org

Alternatively: US Campaign to End the occupation: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/form.php?modin=137

Or
http://www.avaaz.org/avaaz_gaza_congress_action