There Are Only Ten Stories In The Entire World. But We Get To Keep Telling Them (And Living Them) Because Nobody Ever Listens.

History does repeat itself. But nobody ever learns a thing.

There is a wonderful book called The Magus by John Fowles in which a young English schoolteacher goes to an island in Greece and learns about a man who may have worked with the fascists, or may have fought against them, during WW II. There are different stories. The young man (and the reader) get to opine on what they would have done if faced with the opportunities and possible death that might result from opposing the fascists.

Here we are in the 21st century and we no longer have to wonder what we would have done if we had been alive when the Nazis walled off the Jews of Warsaw, deprived them of basic necessities, then eventually moved in to slaughter them. Because the same thing is going on today in Gaza. Here is our opportunity.

Will we stand in defense of a civilian population that has been imprisoned in their own land, punished with mass civilian assaults by the most powerful military in the region, and are now slated for slaughter by the military racist nation that seeks their extermination? If the U.S. did not keep giving Israel money and sending them weapons (if our politicians did not keep taking millions in bribes and kick-backs of our money, sent to Israel as "aid" but skimmed off the top and laundered back into the U.S. and paid to our Congress in a massive scheme of corruption), Israel would not continue to murder Palestinians.

Whether Israel can live in peace with their neighbors is their problem, not ours. Israel is not a state, not a territory, and has no legitimate claim to money from U.S. taxpayers. Israel does not need any "aid" from the U.S. The standard of living of Israelis is comparable to that of the population in the U.K. Let them decide if they want to spend their money on wars or on social improvement, but the U.S. taxpayers being forced to financially support Israel must end.

Israel claims that their neighbors are insane, and they will never be allowed to live there in peace. So be it. But it's not my responsibility to fund them in an impossible goal. By definition, if we accept their view, it is impossible for them to live there in peace. No reason for U.S. taxpayers to be forced to continue to subsidize what is ultimately doomed to failure, but what is in the meantime causing massive conflict and instability in the entire world.

Why should U.S. taxpayers be forced to financially fund a nation that only exists because some religious fanatics claim that God talks to them. We've got our own religious fanatics right here at home. Let Israel support itself and work out its own problems. If they can't work out their problems, then they have to live with constant war (as they say would happen) or leave. It's their decision. I think the clear lesson from the film "The Battle of Algiers" is that Europeans cannot colonize or control middle eastern nations without resorting to torture, massive imprisonment and deprivation, murder, and war against the native civilian population, and even with all that, the Europeans lose in the end. It's not their land. It was stolen from the Palestinians. Either pay for it and make peace or live with the consequences. But the U.S. needs to stop funding this colony.

There is a massive propaganda system in place to convince Americans that the blood of Israeli children washes their streets daily, and that's why the U.S. must continue sending billions of dollars to Israel, but the truth is quite to the contrary. Israeli children are much safer than American children, and their crime rate is relatively low.

The total number of Israelis killed by a Palestinian during 2005 was 50. During that same time period, in 2005, Israelis killed 197 Palestinians. Four to one Palestinians to Israelis, with the Palestinians doing the dying. But in any event, it doesn't really sound a bloodbath, does it? Not compared to what goes on in our cities every week-end. Why should the U.S. be giving billions of dollars to Israel to "protect" them against the possibiliity of 50 murders when their total murder rate (between Israelis and Palestinians) is so relatively low. For all we know, this could include common crime, more the result of class than politics. But it gets better in later years. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/807007.html

The total number of Israelis killed by a Palestinian during 2006 was 27, which included one child. During that same time period, in 2006, the Israelis killed 650 Palestinians, which included 120 children. The streets in the area may be red from the blood of children, but it is the Palestinian children who are being murdered by the Israelis. http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2007/05/23/israel_killed_650_palestinians_in_2006/

During 2007, there were a total of 13 Israelis killed by a Palestinian. During that same year, 2007, Israelis killed 373 Palestinians. Do we see a theme here? It is the Palestinians who are being murdered by the Israelis, using weapons provided by the U.S. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/12/30/international/i152632S12.DTL

Even today during the slaughter in the Gaza, there are reportedly 3 Israelis killed, and almost 400 Palestinians killed. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/world/middleeast/31mideast.html?hp

Israel has sent its Air Force to bomb the civilian population of Gaza, has lined up gunboats to attack from the water, and massed its army on the border ready to invade. Damn, if only the Palestinians had a military of their own this might be called a war. But since the Palestinians have no Air Force, have no Navy, have no airplanes or gunboats, have no Army, they must simply be called an unarmed civilian population being slaughtered by their belligerent neighbor.

This is massive retaliation against a civilian population and is an international war crime. We may not be able to stop it. After all, Israel's politicians always get all huffy about how they are an independent nation, they have no obligation to do what the U.S. says. I wish they were so huffy when it comes to paying their own freight. So maybe we can't stop it directly, but we definitely can cut off all the money. Stop the money and you'll stop the killing.

Write your politicians and local newspapers and demand the U.S. permanently cut off all funding to Israel. Permanently end it. Not a "conditional" holding back. End it. Then we can begin a reparations fund to be paid to Palestinians and administered by a reputable NGO. We should start by determining the total number of Palestinian homes stolen and destroyed by Israel, which we need to build as replacements. Then schools, hospitals. We should build new roads with strict rules that no Israeli may travel on them (just like Israel builds roads but won't let the Palestinians use them). We need to get right and we need to get out.