Israel's history is no pretty picture

We have many things on our minds at this time, the fate of our newspaper and La Conner’s south end industrial area, the critically important elections locally and nationally, the Russian incursion in Ukraine, the climate crisis, hurricanes and more.

But I would like to draw your attention to the war in the Middle East where Israel is reacting to the Hamas attack last October that killed 1,200 and took 240 hostages. Israel has so far killed, at a minimum, 42,000-plus Palestinians in Gaza, more on the West Bank and now is proceeding into Lebanon. The Biden administration is continuing to unconditionally back Israel with munitions.

Prime Minister Netanyahu seems bent on continued escalation, perhaps meant more to keep him in power than to protect Israel, which could draw us into a war with Iran and its allies. Shades of Iraq, where 844 American soldiers died; Afghanistan, 2,400 lost and Vietnam where more than 58,000 fell, wars which gained nothing yet cost us much in money and lives. And these are just the killed, not the wounded nor the damaged.

I suggest that you investigate the history of Israel and its relationship with Palestine, from the Balfour Declaration, 1917, the United Nations partition plan in 1947 and, in 1948, the resulting Nakba, the killing of 15,000 and removal of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes.

Check out the very thorough Aljazeera site (“What is the Israel-Palestine conflict all about: a simple guide”) if you can deal with the Arabian view, BBC or Wikipedia for a more western approach. It is not a pretty picture. And we are complicit.

We must urge our representatives of both parties to work toward ending the horror now.

Jai Boreen

La Conner