“Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me…” We sing that often in church but are being called upon again now to support war. Israeli leaders promote an escalation of their ongoing war against the Palestinians. Israelis promise to deliver devastation unlike any previously experienced. “Gaza will be pulverized… Hamas will be annihilated.”
Why were the Palestinians fighting against overwhelming odds? Because they were tired of being treated as sub-humans — tired of having their children killed, their orchards cut down, their villages and homes razed, protestors shot down by snipers, their wells filled with cement, and settlements built on their land.
Last I knew from when Palestinians were allowed to make demands during the Great March of Return, they wanted human rights, the right to return, the right to vote, and an end to the blockade. It seemed they were asking for a one united state solution.
Unfortunately the Israelis appear to be unwilling to negotiate with Palestinians, whom they prefer to call terrorists when Palestinians employ the same tactics Israelis routinely use to terrorize Palestinians – abducting civilians and smashing homes of civilians.
We’ve supported Israel’s one-sided slaughters before, and it looks like Biden will support this slaughter as well. Will we just sit back and watch it happen? Or will we try to change this 75-year-old war into peace between Muslims, Jews, and Christians?
Dean Grenz
Boulder
