Israel's Apartheid System for Palestinians

Israel's Apartheid System for Palestinians

Postby Oscar » Tue Dec 04, 2012 9:13 am

Israel's Apartheid System for Palestinians

November 07, 2012 10:43 AM

To the Editor,

It is difficult to understand why the Harper government is so supportive of Israel and its Prime-Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- in light of the fact that the governments of Israel have, since 1947/48, been treating the citizens of the region -- the Palestinian people-- as second class citizens or even worse.

It is understandable that Jewish people who suffered the horrors of the "holocaust" in Hitler's Germany during WW2 would try to find refuge in a safe land. But their leaders must have known that the people of Palestine had nothing whatsoever to do with the Holocaust.

A statement made by the famous Martin Luther King offers some explanation: "Violence begets violence"; Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa has condemned Israeli "apartheid" against Palestinians. South African Christians see the latter as worse than their apartheid. In 2009, Amnesty International affirmed "that 90 to 95 per cent of the water supply in Gaza is contaminated and unfit for human consumption."

A month ago, I wrote a letter about the visit to Saskatoon of the Palestinian doctor, Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, who had, for many years, served in one of the largest hospitals in Israel.

In the final 22 days of shelling, bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip in 2009, the Israeli military fired two mortar shells into the Abuelaish home, killing the doctor's three daughters and another family cousin, and injuring a fourth daughter. It was then that Dr. Abuelaish and remaining family moved to Canada. His traumatic life experiences are revealed in his book, "I Shall Not Hate".

The preceding paragraph is about one family's experience of living in a Palestinian region under the control of Israel. But now the injustice of ever-expanding Israeli settlements into Palestinian occupied areas has drawn the attention of a Jewish man named Miko Peled, now living in the US. He is the son of a Jewish Zionist family. His father, [now deceased] was an Israeli military officer in the 1948 take-over and a General in the 1967 Six Day War, ending with the Israeli military and government in control of Palestinian territory. Peled's father noted the oppressive measures that Palestinians had to endure, but was unable to change the minds of the Israeli Zionists who held the reins of power.

Now Miko Peled has written a book titled, "The General's Son". It is a detailed account of Israel's history from 1947 to the present time, particularly how it has affected the Palestinian people. As a citizen of Israel, he has been able to move freely throughout both regions. If you do not have the time to read his book, you can look him up on Google and read some of his speeches as he delivers his message to the American people.

Your readers have the right and obligation to ask: why does the Harper government and the USA state that Israel is their greatest friend?

May I humbly suggest that, in all probability, the following is the reason.

For decades, the American military/industrial/government complex has funded the Israeli military build up so that Israel is now the tenth largest military power in the world. Add to that the fact that our neighbour, the USA, operates and controls approximately 1000 military bases in about 100 countries worldwide. What is this leading to?

America's most famous military General of WW2 and former President of the USA, Dwight D. Eisenhower, made the following statement: "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military/industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

Prime Minister Harper has spent some millions of dollars in trying to encourage Canadians to see themselves as a military or warrior nation rather than a nation of peacekeepers.

Following the American military/industrial complex could, in the long term, cost Canadians their sovereignty.

Leo Kurtenbach
Saskatoon, SK
Telephone: 306.652.5129
Oscar
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