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Turning a blind eye

What has been astounding during the current upheaval in the Middle East is that seemingly few countries, if any, have been prepared to speak out about Israel's actions. The Swiss were reported, yesterday, as alleging that Israel is breaching the Geneva Convention by imposing collective punishment on the Palestinians. There can be little doubt about it!

For a US perspective, AlterNet reports:

"The daily horrors emerging from Iraq have caused a majority of people in the United States to oppose Bush's war there. Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis Israel has created in the occupied territories hovers below the radar for most Americans.

Israel has used the killing of two Israeli soldiers and the capture of a third by Palestinians as an excuse to invade Gaza with overwhelming military force and demolish its infrastructure. What Israel and its benefactor -- the United States -- really want is to destroy the democratically elected Hamas government."

One can't help but thinking that the failure of the US to speak out in any way reflects the fact that this is an election year and politicians simply don't want to be seen as being critical of Israel. Meanwhile, a disaster in Palestine is evident on many levels. What Israel hopes to achieve out of all of this has to be a moot point.

Read the complete AlterNet article here.

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