LETTER: US and Israel complicit in each other's crimes

SIR – When one is discussing a violent nation, one that disdains international law, holds human rights in contempt, and cares nothing for its reputation on the international stage, one is generally discussing either the United States or Israel. They are so often complicit in each other’s crimes, and that fact is becoming clearer as each nation is led by an unruly egotist.

The current crimes of this disgraceful duo are sufficient for a brief discussion. Issue one, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu was more than a little miffed by the Iranian nuclear deal, the JCPOA agreement, so in order to please his Israeli paramour, and against the wishes and counsel of the entire international body except Saudi Arabia and Israel, against the advice of the US’s military leaders, and in violation of international law, Trump withdrew the US from the Iranian nuclear deal, the JCPOA.

This, of course, threw the other signatories to this deal into an understandable tizzy, and Trump could financially sanction some of the US’s oldest and most trusted allies. This does not seem to trouble Trump, or his war-mongering cohorts. which includes the current National Security Advisor John Bolton, who disdains international law and says it only exists to constrain US power.

Issue two, the US embassy move to Jerusalem seems to be a case where Congressional lust to please Israel (keeping in mind those campaign contributions), may have caused more problems than even Congress thinks it is worth. US security considerations be damned, said the illustrious Trump. 

So what if nearly the entire international community says that this must not be done, and that the final status of Jerusalem can only be determined through negotiations. 

So what if a resolution in the United Nations Security Council condemning the move was vetoed by the US, when every other nation represented on the Security Council voted in favour of the resolution. 

It is the fulfillment of a dream long held by Netanyahu and his followers. So that, it seems, is all that matters.

For weeks, Palestinians in Gaza have been demonstrating, demanding the internationally-recognised right of return. Tens of thousands of Palestinians demonstrated, and they were met with live ammunition and tear gas by Israeli soldiers. 

Members of the press, clearly marked as such, were targeted, shot and killed. Medical personnel, also clearly marked and assisting injured Palestinians, had to fight Israeli soldiers who were attempting to prevent them from helping the wounded.

Around the world, such behaviours were condemned, yet no words of criticism

emitted from the White House. Indeed, the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, praised Israeli ‘restraint’ and said any country would have defended its borders, apparently from unarmed demonstrators who were making no effort to breach those borders. She has long demonstrated that she lives in a fantasy land also inhabited by the president that she so ably serves.

We have two countries, each of which encourages and supports the other in its international crimes against humanity. Each oppresses other nations, as it

also selectively oppresses those within its own borders. 

We may have reached a tipping point, when opinions shift. Several Democratic members of Congress have done the previously-unthinkable in criticising Israeli actions. Not a single Democrat attended the grand, bloody opening of the embassy in Jerusalem. 

Until very recently, one of the very few areas on which the heavily-divided and extremely partisan Congress could agree was in their unwavering devotion to Israel.

Things may be changing, but not for the people in Palestine. With thebrutal occupation in full force, and Gaza strangled by the illegal blockade, the abject, unspeakable suffering continues. Perhaps, however, real change may be on the horizon. 

It will not come too soon for Palestine.

Yours sincerely, 

Daniel Teegan, 

Union Hall.