The violence we are witnessing endangers us all, including Israeli and American citizens. The Pope has condemned a recent bombing by Israel of a refugee camp in Gaza as a “massacre.” He also called the broader war on Gaza “pointless.” One need only look at a map of Gaza to understand that much of it has long been one refugee camp or another. Various Israeli leaders consistently call for purging Gaza of its population, a policy that amounts to ethnic cleansing. These abuses of occupation have continued throughout what the U.S. has perversely called “the peace process.” While United Nations resolutions repeatedly call for Israel to cease fire, hundreds of 2,000 pound U.S.-supplied bombs continue to be dropped on innocent Palestinian civilians, a relentless campaign that even President Biden has called “indiscriminate.”

While Israel is clearly ignoring President Biden’s calls to protect civilians and wind down the bombing, his policies of “unconditional aid” have actually made the transfer of huge unguided American bombs even quicker, easier, and less transparent. Existing U.S. Laws from “The Leahy Law” to the 1961 Foreign Aid Act ban U.S. arms transfers to Israel, whether that be because Israel has nuclear weapons or because of their gross violations of human rights. Call Sens. Shaheen and Hassan and Rep. Pappas to demand an immediate end to this illegal enabling of Israel’s atrocities. Our complicity with Israel tells the world that no fair “rules-based international order” exists, only double-standards.

Steve Diamond

Barrington