Assaf, Looking to future in the Middle East

January 21., 2009, Herald News,

http://www.northjersey.com/opinion/letters/Herald_News_Letters_to_the_Editors_January_21_2009.html

Dear Editor:

Now that the guns have gone silent in Gaza, it is prudent to reflect on the causes and consequences of this latest round of mass carnage in the Middle East. While both Israel and Hamas have claimed their objectives were achieved — justifying their willingness for a cease-fire — the fact remains that only Palestinian noncombatants have been made the victims of this needless war.

The U.S. corporate media, to a large extent, followed Israel's pre-scripted war message and did not even challenge Israel's media blackout. Americans by and large have not seen the full extent of Israel's excessive use of firepower against civilians. More than 70 percent of the thousands injured or killed in Gaza were Palestinian civilians, many of them children and women.

Israel invaded Gaza hoping to destroy Hamas, but it inflicted the most damage on Palestinian civilians. Hamas military and popular strength seems to have been unscathed. As such, it is a legitimate demand to bring Israel's leaders to account for war crimes and the use of prohibited weapons.

What happens in the short term will depend largely on a more visible U.S. role in not only easing the tension and providing humanitarian aid to the Palestinians but, more importantly, in redirecting the world's efforts to the core issue of the conflict — namely the ending of Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

Aref Assaf, PhD

President , American Arab Forum,
www.aafusa.org