[Peace] Response to Ad in Daily Illini

[David Green]

Dear Friends:

This letter was written today to the Daily Illini, and
should appear tomorrow:

Editor:

A paid ad in the Daily Illini (4/17) offers "support
of Israel's right to live as a Jewish state within
safe and recognized borders . . ." Unfortunately, this
right has been recongized by both the world community
and by the Palestinians, but not by Israel itself.
Since its founding, Israel has relentlessly sought to
expand those borders: through violence, ethnic
cleansing, appropriation of land and resources,
colonialist settlement building in occupied territory,
and systematic and often lethal oppression of native
Palestinians. This process continues as you read this,
supported by your tax dollars. There is not a serious
historian anywhere who argues that Israel has done
this in "self-defense," any more than one would make
such a claim about Americans in relation to Native
Americans. Increasing numbers of Jews in this country
and in Israel, including "refusenik" Israeli soldiers,
are calling for an end to the illegal and immoral
occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem.
This call is consistent with the quoted statement
above. The policies of all Israeli governments,
including the current one that is implicitly supported
in this statement, contradict this statement. Those
carrying out these policies have clearly been willing
to sacrifice both Jewish and Arab lives for the vision
of "Greater Israel." Amidst the current blizzard of
Zionist propaganda and the obfuscation of Israeli
massacres of Palestinians in the mainstream media, the
blatant nature of this contradiction seems to have
been lost on the signatories of this statement. But as
a Jew who supports human rights for all, it is not
lost on me. Reflexive loyalty should not be allowed to
murder the truth.

David Green


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax
http://taxes.yahoo.com/