03/25/06 Facts Of Israeli Occupation Hamper Critics Of Loewenstein's Viewpoint, by Bonnie Block
Submitted by WNPJ executive committee member Bonnie Block
The Capital Times
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Bonnie Block Madison
Dear Editor: One of the first steps in obtaining peace with justice is to find the truth. Therefore I find it troubling that every time someone is critical of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, some members of the Jewish community become irate and engage in obfuscation rather than dealing with the hard facts. (The ones I cite below are from www.ifamericansknew.org.)
1. Since Sept. 29, 2000, which marks the beginning of the second intifada, 1,084 Israelis (including 123 children) have been killed by Palestinians, and 3,831 Palestinians (including 716 children) have been killed by Israelis. Injuries during the same period show the same disparity -- 7,633 Israelis have been injured while 29,630 Palestinians have been injured. In his letter, Steve Morrison says "acts of violence that deliberately seek to kill and maim civilians including children must be confronted at every opportunity." I agree, so what is he doing to confront the Israeli violence that results in three or four times more deaths and injuries?
2. Israel holds 9,184 Palestinians as political prisoners and has demolished 4,170 Palestinian homes while continuing to build Jewish-only settlements on confiscated Palestinian land. This is "actively searching for peace"?
3. Israel is in violation of 65 U.N. resolutions and yet the U.S. government provides over $15 million a day in aid to Israel's government and military while providing a little over $232,000 a day to Palestinian nongovernmental organizations. I'd say this should alleviate the anxiety over Israel's "right to exist."
4. Former President Carter says there are currently 209 Israeli settlements honeycombing the entire West Bank and taking up much more than 5 percent of the land. Does letter writer Daniel Greenspan think that's a "diatribe" too? And is it "grossly inaccurate" to point out that Israel is building a huge wall that has destroyed 600,000 Palestinian olive trees and divided many Palestinian villages?
It seems to me that just as the United States is finding in Iraq, military occupations are not the path to peace with justice for any parties to a conflict.