Dear Editor,

As long as I have understood Middle East history I have been perplexed by the Israeli mistreatment of the Palestinians, living in Israel and Palestine

Jews suffered the most horrific crime in history; so why is the Israeli (Bibi Netanyahu’s) government being so cruel to the Palestinians, their neighbors?

Human Rights Watch wrote that Israeli “authorities have dispossessed, confined, forcibly separated and subjugated Palestinians by virtue of their identity to varying degrees of intensity.” This led HRW to unequivocally conclude that “these deprivations are so severe that they amount to the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution.”

According to the New York Times “the current uprising is due to the outgrowth of years of blockades and restrictions in Gaza, decades of occupation in the West Bank, and decades more of discrimination against Arabs within the state of Israel.”

Juan Cole (Informed Comment) claims:

“Israel has an army, Gaza does not. Israel has a sophisticated Air Force with 581 aircraft, including fighter jets and helicopter gunships. The Palestinians in Gaza don’t have a conventional army or navy or air force, don’t have tanks or aircraft or artillery. Most of their rockets are high school science experiments (they have a handful of longer range rockets).”

The Palestinians are not an existential threat to Israel.

So why is Israel bombarding them?

It is an uprising, not a war. The Palestinians don’t have the capacity for war.

It is just Palestinians shouting “I won’t take your abusive apartheid anymore.”

It is 2 million people, 1 million of them children, standing up for their basic human rights, screaming “take your knee off my neck.”

I keep wondering why do Netanyahu Israeli’s consecrate Palestinian holy places and steal Palestinian homes?

Why do you, Israel, betray so many millions of your supporters by doing such grievous harm to the Palestinians and to yourself?

Where is Israel’s humanity, compassion, generosity? I know its there; it has been demonstrated many millions of times.

So why not put a stop to Bibi and his destructive minions?

I just don’t get why the tormented has allowed itself to become the tormentor?

And I don’t get why the U.S. government — both parties — is protecting Israel from UN Security Council sanctions for its war crimes?

Finally, I am saddened to say I don’t believe anything will change by Israel under Netanyahu.

Bill Bryant

St. Clairsville