History has proved that Israel is guilty of both apartheid and genocide.Â
“Apartheid is a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on the grounds of race.”
This describes what Israel has been doing to the Palestinian people for decades.
“Genocide is the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.”
No one can doubt this is true who sees what Israel is doing to the Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and all that was once called Palestine.
Israel kills Palestinians with bombs and drones, and by cutting off the delivery of essential food and medical supplies. The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) does it by destroying hospitals, universities, or tented camps.
All this happens while the U.S. government, complicit in the current genocide, provides the money and bombs needed to destroy 100,000 innocent Gazan men, women, and children.
Meanwhile, 170 nongovernmental organizations recently called for the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to be dismantled, after the killing of more than 500 Palestinians seeking food since it launched operations.
Now, Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, has laid out plans to force all Palestinians in Gaza into a concentration camp on the ruins of Rafah. He has ordered Israel’s military to prepare the camp, which he ironically calls a “humanitarian city.”
“Palestinians would go through ‘security screening’ before entering, and once inside would not be allowed to leave,” Katz said at a briefing for Israeli journalists.
“Israeli forces would control the perimeter of the site and initially ‘move’ 600,000 Palestinians into the area—mostly people currently displaced in the al-Mawasi area,” Haaretz newspaper reported.
We must not let this caging of Palestinians happen. The Israeli military must not be put in charge of hundreds of thousands of people in need of all life’s necessities. History shows that at the hands of the IDF, they would not receive all they need.
America has paid 70 percent of Israel’s military costs since Oct. 7, 2023.
It is time to stop the killing by stopping the flow of bombs, planes, and armaments to Israel, and to change our focus to rebuilding Gaza for the Palestinians. America can stop the creation of this concentration camp and help create livable homes for Palestinians instead.
Israel’s plan is to rid Gaza and the West Bank of Palestinians, and to create for themselves a greater Israel that includes parts of Syria (like Golan Heights) and parts of Lebanon.
More and more Americans see that Israel is a destabilizing force in the Middle East. It is time for us to reach out to our senators and representatives with a clear message. “Stop arming Israel.” If they refuse to hear us, we need to take to the streets.
If we don’t try, who will? Δ
Gale McNeeley writes to New Times from Santa Maria. Respond with an opinion for publication by sending it to letters@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Jul 17-27, 2025.
Thank you for this commentary . Most Americans do not support Israel’s despicable actions toward the Palestinian people, yet our politicians continue to ignore us. Carbajal, Schiff and others need to held accountable for their votes to fund the Israel military. Carbajal and Schiff get big bucks from their pro-Israel sources.
Netanyahu played Trump like the easy mark that he is to get him to bomb Iran. He played Biden too in his genocide in Gaza.
Netanyahu is skilled at conning American Presidents into helping with his human rights violations and genocidal strategies.
He is a better conman than Trump is.
Trump also needed Congressional approval of the War Powers Act before he unilaterally bombed Iran, but as usual, he skirted the law.
Trump continues to Make America a Pariah (MAAP not MAGA) in the eyes of the World, like his friend/owner Putin.
We should not send Netanyahu more money fo fund his genocidal crusades! Not one more dollar!
Curiously, the writer says nothing about the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on innocent Israelis, including children and the elderly, and the taking and murder of hostages, which precipitated the war, nor the years of missile and terrorists attacks on Israel. Nor is there any mention of the fact that, after receiving independence and the chance to lead a better life, the people of Gaza promptly elected a terrorist organization to lead them. Instead, Gazans are just depicted as a passive and harmless population who inexplicably have been subjected to these cruel assaults.
Perhaps a more complete view is needed. We can stop assisting Israel whenever the Palestinians and Iranians stop attacking them.
John D:
“We can stop assisting Israel whenever the Palestinians and Iranians stop attacking them”
Exactly.