[Note: I wrote this back in 2004, when Israel was demolishing refugee houses on a near daily basis.  This has happened again recently (March 2008), and so I'm importing it to my new blog now.]

Haven’t we learned
…that poverty and oppression always leads to crime and violence?

Here in the United States, the Affirmative Action program was developed to help alleviate a long history of oppression and discrimination against African-Americans. And although it has always been a controversial program - and perhaps is no longer needed - it really has helped blacks to gain a more equal footing in our society.

I grew up in southern Kentucky. I was exposed to a lot of racism while growing up. But what I have learned over time is that we are all individuals, and should be judged individually.

Legally - at least in the U.S. - when someone commits a crime, only that person is punished - not that person’s entire race/culture/society. And certainly not that person’s family, either.

Why treat Palestinians differently? Why punish an entire group of people because of the actions of a relative few? Why punish family members - by tearing down houses, etc. - that were not directly involved in any crimes or violence? Granted, many Palestinians are probably anti-Semitic, but then again, the reverse is undoubtedly true of Jews. Moreover, one’s thoughts should not be a crime, only one’s actions.

In any conflict between the powerful and the oppressed, it is the powerful that must make concessions. The oppressed simply do not have anything left to give. So is the case with the Palestinians.

Imagine for a moment all the Palestinians living in refugee camps. Imagine their despair. What could they possibly have left to give? Israel wants an end to violence. But that violence is based on intangible emotions, which are rooted in the very oppression that Israel imposes.

It is a tragedy when individuals turn to extreme violence - such as suicide bombings - and kill innocent people. But it is also a tragedy when an entire group of people are punished - harshly - for the actions of those individuals. That is not justice - it is archaic and wrong.

The first step towards peace in the region is for Israel to make a large concession to the Palestinians - the creation of the state of Palestine, based on “reasonable” borders. furthermore, both Israel and the U.S. need to provide substantial aid to Palestine, to help rebuild their
infrastructure and society.

Compare the relations between blacks and whites [in the U.S.] now to that of fifty years ago. It took bold change to make a difference. And that is what we need here.