Paul Findley: The Tyranny of Collective Punishment (ALL BOUGHT AND PAID FOR US, CANADIAN & UK POLITICIANS ARE WAR CRIMINALS AND NEED TO STAND AT THE HAGUE TO FACE TRIAL FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY)

Because Israel is at war on largely-defenseless Gaza, America seems automatically at war with the 1.8 million Palestinians struggling for survival there.

No U.S. declaration of war occurred, but almost every member of Congress provided full-throated support, it seemed, for Israel’s war role.

by Hon. Paul Findley

A lethal Israeli assault close to a UN-operated school in Gaza on Sunday prompted unprecedented criticism of Israel from U.S. government sources. It may mark a turning point in U.S.-Israel relations. It is an abrupt change from U.S. government solidarity with Israel expressed just last week after its heavy month-long assault on Gaza.

The death toll in Gaza topped 1,400 when astounding news appeared last week on the Internet screen: the Houses of Congress adopted a resolution expressing unqualified support and praise for Israel’s assault on Palestinians in Gaza.   Not a word of sympathy for the families of the dead and the thousands of other Palestinians injured. The death toll has since risen to more than 1,800.

Approval in both Houses was by voice vote. No one demanded a recorded vote.  Our government gave further proof of support for collective punishment by shipping $223 million in missiles and other munitions, a gift to replenish Israel’s stockpiles.  On this vote, Senators were unanimous. Eight House Members, four of each party, bravely voted no. Imagine! Voting against always-odious collective punishment becomes an act of bravery.

Children killed by Israeli Navy on Gaza beach

Ponder the enormity of this year’s collective punishment. Rockets into Israel caused the death of three Israeli civilians in a month of war measures. During the same period, over 1,800 Palestinians were killed—1,600 were likely non-combatants. The kill ratio was over 500- to- one.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Israeli forces did not intend to harm non-combatants. Perhaps so, but he must have known in advance that massive human slaughter was inevitable.

Because Israel is at war on largely-defenseless Gaza, America seems automatically at war with the 1.8 million Palestinians struggling for survival there. No U.S. declaration of war occurred, but almost every member of Congress provided full-throated support, it seemed, for Israel’s war role.

The resolutions make no mention of the horrendous price Palestinian civilians are paying.



President Barack Obama, like almost all other elected federal officials, stoutly defends Israel’s right to self-defense. Surely, the people of Gaza have the same right, but it went unmentioned in the halls of Congress or by Obama. Thanks mainly to Israel’s daily criminal activity, Palestinians in Gaza now are in their fifth decade of suffering. All these years the U.S. government, already possessed with means of strong leverage on Israeli policy, has never once attempted to treat Palestinians justly.

‘We’ve got to get this done,’ Reid (Senate Maj. Leader) says about passing legislation to give more aid to Israel. | AP Photo

A few years after Israel came into being in 1948, all Palestinians were shorn of full citizenship everywhere. Those who remained in Israel after the l967 Arab-Israeli War became citizens, but it was second-class type. They are denied social and some political benefits available to Jews. In the West Bank, Palestinians have steadily lost ground to the onslaught of illegal settlers and suffer routine violence and indignities in daily life.

The latest resolutions strike at the heart of our most treasured principles and commitments. Members of Congress need a refresher course. In a memorable speech, Abraham Lincoln provided a definition of national defense that is timely today:

“Our defense is the preservation of the spirit that prizes liberty as the precious heritage of all people, in all lands everywhere. Destroy that spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism around our doors.”  

The congressional approval of Israel’s killings in Gaza is not only disgusting but ominous.   I pray for sudden Capitol Hill enlightenment on behalf of Palestinian justice.

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