Letter to the Boston Globe, July 29, 2014

To the editor:

Israel – with US financing and US weapons -- has created a massive humanitarian disaster in Gaza.  More than 1100 Palestinians have been killed and thousands more injured.  According to the UN, three-quarters of the dead are civilians, including hundreds of children and women.  Tens of thousands have been made homeless. The strip’s only power plant is now in flames from Israeli bombardment.

Yet our Congress has unanimously passed legislation blaming only the victims and is considering further resolutions  that aim to legitimize and prolong the slaughter.

What is needed are measures to end the bombing and offer the people of Gaza, as well as Israel, freedom from violence and the possibility to live normal lives without being under siege in their tiny patch of land.  In the longer run, only a just end to the blockade of  Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank can offer the prospect of a lasting peace.

As I understand it, Secretary of State John Kerry has been working to achieve a cease-fire and negotiations to achieve those outcomes.  For his efforts, he has been openly vilified in the Israeli press.  Kerry and his diplomatic process deserve our support, instead of joining the campaign to malign him as Israel and its US supporters are doing.

It is, frankly, shameful that our Congress – especially its Democratic Party members -- would even consider a resolution written by the agents of a foreign country, whose spokespeople have insulted our secretary of state and whose chief of state virtually endorsed the Republican candidate in the last US presidential election.

Sincerely,

Jeff Klein