Public Comment

Israel is rapidly descending into a pariah state following its appalling crimes against indigenous Palestinians. B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights organization, reports Israel killed 313 Palestinians last Year including 313 minors, demolished 300 residential structures and imprisoned scores of Palestinians without trial. It was the deadliest year for Palestinians since 2014.  

Adding to its many crimes, Israel demolished 300 residential structures in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem last ear leaving 900 homeless. Last week, Israeli forces demolished a healthcare system serving 20,000 Palestinians. This criminal behavior flies in the face of core Jewish doctrines which believe all people are equally entitled to human rights, a concept that is central to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, which was adopted by the United Nations in response to the Holocaust. 

As the US comes to grips with its own history of racism in new ways, American Jews want to apply similar notions of justice to foreign policy, where an increasing number see apartheid in Israel's approach to the Palestinians. It’s time the passive Biden admiration, who claim to be a fierce defender of human rights, “walk the talk” and immediately halt further economic and military aid to apartheid Israel.