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LettersWhy the US needs to rethink its support for Israel
- Readers discuss the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, and US Republicans holding up funding for Ukraine
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The United States needs only examine its geopolitical and military support of Israel to understand why opinion about its moral compass is divided. The US is Israel’s principal supplier of military weapons in its war against Hamas.
The US Declaration of Independence speaks of the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The constitution has enshrined the right to property. US leaders have championed the right to self-determination. Yet they have continually turned a blind eye to Israel’s illegal and ever-expanding occupation of Palestinian territory.
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During the 1948 war, an estimated 750,000 Arab people fled or were violently expelled from their homes, an event known as the Nakba.
Around 630,000 Israeli settlers live in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Sixty-one per cent of the West Bank was off-limits to Palestinians as of 2021. Around 5.9 million Palestinians are refugees registered with the relevant UN agency.
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Hamas’s terrorist attack on October 7 last year – in which around 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 taken hostage – has been condemned. Israel has a right to defend itself in response to events. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has used Hamas’ attack on Israel to further dispossess Palestinians of their land.
World leaders are watching as Israel enacts collective punishment of Palestinian civilians in defiance of international law. Many people are without adequate food, water, shelter or medicine. This misery is further compounded by the killing of over 200 humanitarian aid workers.
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