Nasheed critical of American response to Gaza attacks
Nasheed
State Rep. Jamilah Nasheed, one of a handful of Muslim state legislators in the U.S., has issued a statement condemning America’s reaction to the Israel’s recent missile attacks on Gaza.
“The recent Israeli aggression is both unwarranted and completely disproportionate,” Nasheed said last week. “The United States’ wholehearted support for the massacre of innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip is unconscionable and undermines our reputation abroad. So long as America continues to act as an inherently biased player, we will never provide the just leadership that is needed to bring peace to Palestine and the rest of the world.”
More than 400 individuals have been killed in the air strikes targeting the Palestinian group Hamas, which Israel considers a terrorist organization.
Nasheed, elected to her second term in November, is one of two Muslim lawmakers in Jefferson City. T.D. El-Amin, who is also Muslim, represents the district adjoining Nasheed’s in St. Louis.
Tomorrow morning, a group of bi-partisan officials led by Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder are expected to gather at the Jewish Federation’s St. Louis headquarters to show solidarty with Israel.
Rep. Nasheed has issued a simple statement calling for the U.S. to act as an honest broker to bring PEACE. There have been many Israeli’s who also have spoken out against what is now happening in Gaza and this certainly doesn’t make them anti-Semites. And, the truth is that the current Israeli actions show that they view the Palestinians as not human at all.
The Israeli attack on Palestinians in early November was actually an attack on Hamas terrorists digging a tunnel into Israel to try to kidnap Israeli soldiers. Israel has done a good job of targeting Hamas. The problem is that they are hiding behind Palestinian civilians. This makes the Israeli response to rocket attacks upon their citizens difficult. If we had this same sort of reporting, the Third Reich would still be in power, because too many German civilians were killed in World War II. Look closely at the Hamas charter which calls for the destruction of Israel and all Jews. It is obvious that this is not a group that anyone can negotiatie with.
Thanks to Jamilah Nasheed for speaking out. It is time we grew up and questioned Israel’s repeated “they did it first” rationale for its violence against Palestinians. The recent Gazan masscre is blamed on Hamas for firing rockets into southern Israel in violation of an agreed upon cease fire. And yet nothing is said about the fact that while Hamas respected the ceasefire,Israel strengthened its blockade of Gaza’s borders and entry points. Nearly nothing was getting through, neither food, nor medicine, nor much else needed for the Gazan’s to survive. Violence comes in many forms and depriving a people of basic necesitites is as good as a rocket in killing people. This activity on Israel’s part broke the cease fire to which Hamas responded with its rockets. Palestinians have the right to defend themselves against Israel and they will do so until Israel admits Palestine has a right to exist.