back

Thank you for boldly—and insightfully—calling for Israel to end its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.  The Palestinian people who have lived under that 33-year occupation grow more desperate by the day.  Even married fathers of five are driven to terrible extremes like crashing a bus into a crowd.  These acts prove your point: the occupation makes Israel less, rather than more, secure.

Many Israelis, and indeed many American Jews (of whom I am one) do not support the occupation.  We believe that "supporting Israel" means being honest about ways in which it should improve.  We know that Israel will never be secure unless it withdraws from the West Bank and Gaza, shares Jerusalem, and acts fairly towards the Palestinian refugees.

As Americans, we also must stop contributing to violence in the Middle East.  The U.S. gives Israel more than $3 billion in military aid each year, some of which goes to buy the tanks, helicopters, guns and bullets that each day we see being used against Palestinian civilians.  Our tax dollars should not be used for these purposes.

---