You have to wonder: What, exactly, does Israel have to do before the U.S. stops giving them munitions and the cover of approving their "self-defense" rationale? The U.S. reminds me of the kind of neighbor whose son is a drug dealer whose business tactics invite fire bombs and machine guns into the neighborhood and inflict fear on the entire block, but insists her son is "a good boy" who would never do such a thing:
In language that was rare in its directness and severity, the U.S. denounced in a statement issued Sunday the attack earlier in the day that killed 10 people, noting that the school had been designated a protected location.
"The coordinates of the school, like all UN facilities in Gaza, have been repeatedly communicated to the Israel Defense Forces," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in the statement. "We once again stress that Israel must do more to meet its own standards and avoid civilian casualties."
The U.S. condemnation follows one by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who depicted the shelling near the Rafah school as both "a moral outrage and a criminal act."
Earlier, a senior Palestinian diplomat expressed outrage over killings and bloodshed on both sides in Gaza and called for negotiations to end the savage fighting that has gone on for nearly a month. "What we need now is to stop this fighting, to address the tragic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip," Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the U.N., said on NBC's "Meet the Press," adding "these things need to be stopped."
He said that putting the people of Gaza "in a continuous situation of confrontation and fighting" will only lead to more violence, saying "This is an excellent atmosphere for radicalism."
"But if you give them (Palestinians) hope, you open the borders, you let them go to school, let them look for good jobs, let them look for moderation. And we will succeed in allowing all those who want to have peace...to have the upper hand."
Pierre Krahenbuhl, head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, called the shelling a clear violation of international law. "These are premises that are protected, the sanctity of which has to be respected by all parties," he said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation."
This is not a war, it is the decimation of Gaza bit by bit. More and more people are coming to the conclusion [that][/that] what’s happening in Gaza, looks like genocide. As the world looks on in horror, and people protest by the millions, I ask you what are we to do?
Just last week [U.N. Secretary-General] Ban Ki-moon called the Israel’s attack on another UN school in Jabaliya, which killed 16 people, “reprehensible”. We need more than hand wringing, denouncements, investigations and calls for accountability. We need justice, the occupation to end. If this were happening to Jewish families, all hell would be breaking loose in the halls of congress. Our government is worse than worthless, they are facilitating this crime against humanity.
Has humanity become so inured by Palestinian oppression and death we could stand by and witness a genocide before our very eyes and not recognize it is taking place?
