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Ron Paul - How to End the Tragedy in Gaza

November 28, 2012

"To me, I look at it like a concentration camp."
- Ron Paul on Gaza


THE WORLD'S LARGEST CONCENTRATION CAMP - Nearly two million Palestinians, mainly dispossessed refugees forced from their homes and villages in Israel, are confined within the 5-mile wide Gaza Strip like prisoners in a concentration camp.  The Israeli military controls all movements into and out of the camp.


THE CAMP WARDEN - The Israeli military forbids the inmates of the Gaza Strip from coming within 300 meters of the fence.  Israeli soldiers routinely fire on those who cross into the Israeli-declared no-go zone on the Palestinian side of the fence.


TAUNT - Israeli troops taunt Palestinian inmates who approached the fence on November 23.  


AIM, FIRE - Israeli troops aim before shooting 20 Palestinians, killing one on November 23.  Such incidents are not uncommon.  On Sunday, November 4, for example, Israelis shot an un-armed Palestinian man in the no-go zone in the evening and then denied permission for emergency medical workers to go to his aid until Monday morning.  By the time help reached him the man had bled to death.

How to End the Tragedy in Gaza
by Rep. Ron Paul

As of late Friday the ceasefire in Gaza seems to be holding, if tentatively. While we should be pleased that this round of fighting appears temporarily on hold, we must realize that without changes in U.S. foreign policy it is only a matter of time before the killing begins again.

It feels like 2009 all over again, which is the last time this kind of violence broke out in Gaza. At that time over 1,400 Palestinians were killed, of which just 235 were combatants. The Israelis lost 13 of which 10 were combatants. At that time I said of then-President Bush’s role in the conflict:

It's our money and our weapons. But I think we encouraged it. Certainly, the president has said nothing to diminish it. As a matter of fact, he justifies it on moral grounds, saying, oh, they have a right to do this, without ever mentioning the tragedy of Gaza…. To me, I look at it like a concentration camp.

The U.S. role has not changed under the Obama administration. The same mistakes continue. As journalist Glen Greenwald wrote last week:

For years now, U.S. financial, military and diplomatic support of Israel has been the central enabling force driving this endless conflict. The bombs Israel drops on Gazans, and the planes they use to drop them, and the weapons they use to occupy the West Bank and protect settlements are paid for, in substantial part, by the U.S. taxpayer…


The bombs dropped on Gaza with lethal precision are all made in the U.S.A.


The 9/11-like devastation of Gaza is a genocidal project supported by U.S. taxpayers.

Last week, as the fighting raged, President Obama raced to express U.S. support for the Israeli side, in a statement that perfectly exemplifies the tragic-comedy of U.S. foreign policy. The U.S. supported the Israeli side because, he said, "No country on Earth would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders.” Considering that this president rains down missiles on Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and numerous other countries on a daily basis, the statement was so hypocritical that it didn’t pass the laugh test. But it wasn’t funny.

U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton traveled to Tel Aviv to meet with Israeli prime minister Netanyahu, but she refused to meet with elected Palestinian leaders. Clinton said upon arrival in Israel, “America's commitment to Israel’s security is rock-solid and unwavering.” Does this sound like an honest broker?


U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton met with the Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu as Israeli bombers destroyed the government buildings in Gaza.  Bill and Hilary Clinton have received tens of millions of dollars from Israeli agents like Haim Saban as payola to support the terrorism of the Likud.  Ms Clinton should be tried for treason as an agent of a foreign state.

At the same time Congress acted with similar ignobility when an unannounced resolution was brought to the House floor after the business of the week had been finished; and in less than 30 seconds the resolution was passed by unanimous consent, without debate and without most Representatives even having heard of it. The resolution, House Resolution 813, was so one-sided it is not surprising they didn’t want anyone to have the chance to read and vote on it. Surely at least a handful of my colleagues would have objected to language like, “The House of Representatives expresses unwavering commitment to the security of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state with secure borders...”

U.S. foreign policy being so one-sided actually results in more loss of life and of security on both sides. Surely Israelis do not enjoy the threat of missiles from Gaza nor do the Palestinians enjoy their Israel-imposed inhuman conditions in Gaza. But as long as Israel can count on its destructive policies being underwritten by the U.S. taxpayer it can continue to engage in reckless behavior. And as long as the Palestinians feel the one-sided U.S. presence lined up against them they will continue to resort to more and more deadly and desperate measures.

Continuing to rain down missiles on so many increasingly resentful nations, the U.S. is undermining rather than furthering its security. We are on a collision course with much of the rest of the world if we do not right our foreign policy. Ending interventionism in the Middle East and replacing it with friendship and even-handedness would be a welcome first step.

Dr. Ron Paul is a Republican member of Congress from Texas.

Sources:

“How to End the Tragedy in Gaza,” by Rep. Ron Paul, LewRockwell.com, November 27, 2012
http://lewrockwell.com/paul/paul834.html  

“Gaza crowds surge at Israel border fence, 1 dead,” by Karin Laub and Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press, November 22, 2012 
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/11/22/2180409/hamas-cries-victory-truce-with.html

“IDF fires on Palestinian approaching Gaza fence,” Jerusalem Post, November 5, 2012
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=290521

“Palestinians: IDF fire kills man near Gaza fence,” by Yaakov Lappin,Jerusalem Post, November 23, 2012
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=293181