I was one of those "hawkish liberals" [oxymoron as I've been told] that have been hammered for incessant and continuing support for Israel. I, as a young student thought that the injustices against the Jews from the dawn of time were inexcusable. "Of course they should have their own land". "And, if rockets were being fired at my house, I would want and would assume that the opposition would expect sufficient retaliation". But, recently, something changed within me. Congrats DailyKos, you have converted one more to the cause of promoting human rights in Gaza.
Why the transformation? Because I can and will finally admit to my double-standard.
I don't agree with FDR's internment of the Japanese-Americans during WWII; Hitler's containment of Homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Russians, Jews, and all other groups; and I don't agree with the United States' reservation system to "deal" with the Native Americans. So how can I agree with holding of another native group in the Middle East?
I believe the United States should act as a moral force in the world when it comes to fighting poverty and corruption. We should attack the AIDS epidemic in the heart of the Sahel, and we should combat malaria on the Ivory coast. We should lift up impoverished Bolivians, Indians, and Ethiopians through nonprofit/NGO work, and federal aid. And I believe that the conflicts in Rwanda, Kenya, Sudan, Congo, and Zimbabwe should be stopped by whatever means necessary. If THIS is what I believe, then how can I accept starving Palestinians?
Finally, I believe that racial stereotyping is the single biggest threat to the progression of mankind. Everything that Ghandi, Mandela, King, and the Kennedys stood for can not be ignored as we trek in to the future. That means no more Guantanamo Bay and horrific stories of Muslims being humiliated, singled out, and kicked off of airplanes; no more failing urban schools, because it's "not a good enough investment"; and no more - what I believe to be - American-supported containment of a group that does not look the same as the majority of Judaeo-Christians.
We have a new President, a new majority in Congress, and a new American spirit that gives us all the chance to hope for the renewal of the American Dream. It's time to give that same sense of optimist to our brothers and sisters in every corridor of the world - it's time to find peace in Gaza and the West Bank.
For me, we can not give up our moral support for Israel - but we can (and we should) relinquish our economic and military support until vigorous diplomacy - without preconditions - is sought. This is an issue of human rights. The child that sees his father murdered from a loose rocket that blew through the roof, has a natural instinct to seek revenge and join the cause of the opposition to his 'daddy's murderers'.
It's like the bully in the playground. You want to play on the jungle gym, because it's your favorite part of the entire playground. But the bully won't let you get close, and if you do, you are chased down. Let's stop the bullying. Because, the kids that get bullied the most as children, grow up with anger themselves.
This eighteen year old is asking the Bush administration, the Obama administration, and Israel to stop creating new generations of angry Palestinians.
Stop the ridiculous violence in Gaza.
Image Credit: Mohammed Omer - Rafah Today 2007-10-22.