Carrie Brown

Why do you support Israel's occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem? Perhaps you don't recognize what the entire Arab and Muslim world knows: As American citizens who elect the leaders of our government, we all support Israel's illegal occupation. In fact, our own State Department agrees with most of the world that the occupation must end for there to be a just and lasting peace between two independent and secure states: Israel and Palestine.

Israel recently asked the United States for $4 billion in additional military aid and $10 billion in loan guarantees to help its ailing economy. We must tell our leaders that it is our moral and legal obligation to attach stipulations to such aid. If we continue to give more aid to Israel than to any other nation, we have a right to make that aid contingent on an end to Israel's illegal occupation. Such a demand would promote a just peace for both Israelis and Palestinians.

It is time for Americans to understand that if our government continues to finance and arm the illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories, we must share the blame for the innocent Israeli and Palestinian victims who pay with their lives every day the occupation continues. We should also brace for the inevitable backlash that will continue against American civilians who will face repercussions for our government's support of the oppression of the Palestinians.

We believe that promoting peace and justice for the oppressed will prevent terrorism. The State Department admits there is no military solution to this conflict. That is why it calls on Israel to abide by U.N. Resolution 242, end the occupation and stop building settlements in the occupied territories. However, our government has yet to force Israel to comply with these demands. It is up to us as American citizens to make sure that it does.

We are often told that focusing on Israel's occupation is anti-Israel, or worse, anti-Semitic. We condemn all types of oppression and all breaches of human rights, but because the United States' level of involvement in supporting and financing the Israeli occupation is so great, this conflict demands our immediate attention.

Our government gives more military, economic and diplomatic aid to Israel than to any other country in the world. Supporting Israel is not the issue.

America should support Israel. We should also support measures to guarantee Israel's security. Providing Israel with unlimited support as it continues to illegally occupy and oppress the Palestinians actually brings more insecurity to Israel.

Some argue that the Palestinians deserve the occupation and must control militant groups that kill innocent Israelis. But there has never been a viable Palestinian state to provide such control. This is not a conflict of equals, but a conflict between an oppressor and the oppressed. When in history has a weak and oppressed people been able to guarantee the security of their oppressor? While we must hold the Palestinian authority to the same ethical standards and demand that it work to end violence, it is unfair to assume that the Palestinian authority is as capable as Israel in managing such efforts. In this conflict, Israel holds far greater power, and Israel is guilty of abusing its power with flagrant human rights abuses against the Palestinians.

If you do not agree, we urge you to read the State Department's most recent report on the state of human rights in Israel and the occupied territories. Israel practices torture, prevents Palestinian children from going to school, and uses excessive lethal force against non-violent demonstrations. Israel is also guilty of collective punishment as it systematically destroys homes owned by relatives of suspected terrorists and punishes the entire Palestinian population through a policy of closures and curfews. The policies of Israel's occupation do not discourage, but rather incite, Palestinian violence.

Finally, it is against U.S. law to provide weapons to another country when the U.S. government knows they are used against civilians. The Arms Export Control Act should prohibit the United States from providing any more weapons to Israel. We know that a U.S.-supplied F-16 attacked a residential building in Gaza this summer, killing 14 innocent civilians, most of them children. This was not the first nor the last time U.S.-supplied military equipment has been used to kill innocent civilians. Should we ignore our own laws in order to support Israel's occupation?

The United States clearly favors Israel over the Palestinians in this conflict. We must quit pretending that we are somehow an unbiased negotiator for peace. Let us use our power to promote a peaceful resolution. It is in the interest of Israelis, Palestinians and Americans ÷ and, ultimately, it is our legal and moral obligation.

Carrie Brown and the Alliance for Peace and Justice in the Middle East.