Quick Comment on Gaza Situation

Just real quick. I've been doing a lot of reading about everything that is going on in Gaza. I just wanted to make a quick comment.

Our political establishment is pretty much in lock step on the issue. In this space I'm not going to question whether or not we should be so blantantly one-sided in our affiliations. What I am going to write about are the people who say that we cannot question Israel's actions. They won't say that exactly. They'll usually say something like "Israel has the right to defend itself." That statement is essentially meaningless, something that can be uttered when a politician wants to avoid the question. Of course Israel has the right to defend itself- that's not the question. For arguments sake, let's say that Israel was right in retaliating the way that they did, using their airforce in response to homemade rockets firing into their neighborhoods. That still doesn't mean we don't have the right to question what they did. Last time I checked, the weapons that they use are HEAVILY subsidized by American tax dollars. Israel receives more foreign aid from the US than all other nations combined. That cash should buy the right to question if not criticize when it's warranted. Shoot, in order to get development or anti-HIV aid, African nations have to lie prostrate on the ground while we fuck them with a broken broomstick. And THEN we tell them how they have to spend the money. If there are strings attached to development aid, then there damn well better be string attached to money used to buy weapons.

And it would all be different if our government didn't act like everything that's in Israel interest is also in our interest. I can definitely see the argument where Israels' retaliation served their goals. It's been speculated that Olmert wants to hold off a challenge from Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud party by showing his bonafides as a fighter. But exactly how does this help our own goals in the region? No one ever explains that. Acting like theirs nothing wrong with the enormity of the response that Israel had to Hamas rockets that did not kill anyone does not serve our interests nor our ideals. If my brother shoots a dude that steps on his toe in the club, I am definitely going to criticize him (among other things), but I'll still love him, we'll still be "allies," so to speak. I just don't agree with what he did, it's way out of proportion to the initial act, and just downright dumb. And the US should do the same. It doesn't mean they're allied with Hamas, doesn't mean that Israel doesn't have the right to defend itself, it just means that there are different ways to go about getting results, and what's good for Israel may not necessarily be what's good for us.