End US Support for Israeli Terrorism Against Gaza
A Statement By the Freedom Socialist Party
Al-Jazeerah, CCUN, June 21, 2010
The longstanding U.S. policy of arming the Israeli government to the teeth, and uncritically defending every anti-Palestinian policy it initiates, has resulted in an Israeli commando raid against a flotilla of boats bringing humanitarian aid to 1.5 million Palestinians living in Gaza. This “Freedom Flotilla” was attempting to break the Israeli blockade which has turned the people of Gaza into malnourished prisoners in their own land. Nine participants in this international effort were killed when Israeli soldiers boarded boats containing food, medicine, building supplies and other essentials for survival and began shooting.
The Obama administration supports the blockade, just as the Bush administration did before it, and continues to give $3 billion a year in aid to the Israelis. The president’s response to the killings has been to call for a “transparent investigation.” But an investigation for what purpose? To establish that Israeli commandos gunned down people armed with sticks and sling shots? The president expresses “strong frustration” with the Israelis in private, according to the New York Times. However, a White House statement issued after the attack on the flotilla said that Mr. Obama “understood the prime minister’s (Netanyahu) decision to return immediately to Israel to deal with today’s events.” Too bad he doesn’t understand why Turkey and human rights organizations organized this aid flotilla for Gaza in the first place! He should have had Netanyahu arrested for crimes against humanity.
The unprovoked attack on the flotilla has unleashed a torrent of protests, official and unofficial around the world. But just as with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama administration is showing its true colors by expressing “regret” over the loss of life and leaving the handling of the whole affair in the hands of those who are responsible for this disaster. Will the world wait for more than a month before the president has anything worthwhile to say on the subject of this terrorist attack on the flotilla, much less takes any action? Perhaps another press conference is in order so he can tell the world that he takes “full responsibility” for the actions of the Israeli military which his administration continues to keep well-supplied with armaments, favorable press releases and support in the United Nations.
Now is the time to press the administration and Congress to end all financial and military support for Israel and to demand that Israel and Egypt open Gaza’s borders to the free transportation of goods and people. No more Palestinians should die waiting for medical attention because the borders are closed!
The nine flotilla members killed by Israeli forces gave their lives so that Palestinian women and men could live free, free of occupation and terror. We can honor these heroes and their sacrifice by continuing to build international protests against the apartheid Israeli regime and by building an anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movement in the U.S. to challenge the destructive power structure in this country.
With the passing of each day, it becomes clearer and clearer that there is no qualitative difference between the Democrats and the Republicans. After bank bailouts, healthcare “reform,” the BP oil spill, the expansion of the war in Afghanistan and the continuing erosion of civil liberties, the scintilla of difference between the twin parties of U.S. capitalism is evaporating at the speed of light. We who stand with the oppressed of the world must seize this opening and build a socialist movement capable of challenging this dangerous and out-lived system before it kills all life on our planet.
Submitted by Megan Cornish, staff writer
Freedom Socialist Party
U.S. Section
4710 University Way NE, #100
Seattle, WA 98105
USA
