Attacks were acts of desperation

The attacks and counter attacks in Palestine/Israel are horrific. The Hamas uprising, as horrible as it is, is the result of people ignored while they were subjected to abuse on an intense and escalating scale for 75 years.

Some call this apartheid, crimes against humanity or an open-air prison. I think of it as an extended torture of a people who have lost a reasonable expectation of any help in getting the Israeli boot of brutality off their necks. Negotiation and appeals to the UN, the US and the world community have not brought relief.

To solve this, we don't need to give the Israeli's even more weapons or diplomatic cover. Instead, we need to stop this abuse and violence now. And then ensure that the Palestinian people have control of their land, their property returned to them and an end to the control of almost every aspect of their lives by their Israeli jailers.

It sounds hard, but what I see and hear from there is horrible. The events of last weekend more so, but Israelis have killed at least one Palestinian every day this year. As many as 5,000 people including children are held in detention, many without charge.

These attacks are not so much an act of terrorism but rather an act of desperation by a people pushed beyond their limits. The U.S. must end unqualified US military support. We are violating our laws that require our aid not be used to commit atrocities, war crimes, etc.

Dan Bailey

Wheaton