Collegian op-ed

World should react to Israel through sanctions, boycott

Re: As sovereign nation, Israel has right to protect itself

I just read a report quoting Dov Weisglass, an adviser to the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, talking of putting Gazans "on a diet." This reminds of Governor General Hans Frank in Nazi-occupied Poland, who spoke of "death by hunger."

The hundreds of dead and bodies of children in Gaza, cutting off of water, electricity, medicine, fuel and food, is a reminder of the siege of the Warsaw Ghetto. Apartheid Israel is committing a holocaust to the Palestinian population in Gaza, or what Israeli deputy defense minister, Matan Vilnai, who once talked about the Palestinians experiencing "a bigger shoah" (holocaust).

According to UN Special Rapporteur for Human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Richard Falk, "The truce was maintained by Hamas despite the failure of Israel to fulfill its obligation under the agreement to improve the living conditions of the people of Gaza."

After more than 22 days of Israel's aggression on Gaza, over 1,300 Palestinians have been killed and less than a dozen Israelis.

The issue is that the Palestinians of Gaza do not come from Gaza. The Palestinians of Gaza come from that part of Palestine that became Israel. The places where the Hamas rockets are falling are the lands which were owned by the people who now live in Gaza.

As the world did with apartheid South Africa, rational Americans should embark on a program of boycott, divestment and sanctions of Israel until it adheres to International Law. I'd rather see my American tax dollars fund the shortage of funding here at Penn State rather than supply Israel with weapons to commit war crimes against the Palestinians.

Sammy Haddad

graduate-engineering