Let us not forget the story of Kristallnacht: The Night of Broken Glass. On Nov. 7, 1938, a 17-year-old Jew named Herschel Grynszpan assassinated Nazi Foreign Service officer Ernst von Raith in Paris. He did this because of the intense persecution facing his parents and countless other Jews in Germany at the time.
The Nazis reacted swiftly; two days later, Josef Goebbels used the act as an excuse to organize a nationwide riot against the Jews. On this night (Kristallnacht), J. Goebbels left 91 Jews dead and hundreds seriously injured, about 7,500 Jewish businesses demolished, approximately 177 synagogues destroyed and 30,000 Jews were arrested and detained in concentration camps.
Let me tell you another story, as related by the Amnesty International 2001 Report on Israel: "11-year-old Sami Abu Jazzar was shot dead in October during a stone-throwing demonstration in Rafah, Gaza Strip, by Israeli soldiers who were based in a blockhouse 100 meters away and who were not in danger at the time."
In January of last year, another boy (a 10-year-old) was beaten to death by an Israeli soldier who was subsequently given six months of community service for such a crime. Just like Grynzpan, the Palestinian children are sick of the intense persecution their people face. The Palestinians have been subject to countless acts of torture, violence and oppression.
According to the United Nations Commission of Human Rights, Israel is guilty of using excessive force upon Palestinian civilians and does not comply with international humanitarian law. "Damage to private (Palestinian) houses is put at $9.5 million and damage to (Palestinian) agricultural land at $27 million," says the Commission.
The United Nations also recognizes that Israel commits extra judicial killings, has illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza (violating the Fourth Geneva Convention), denies "basic human needs, as protected by international human rights standards (to Palestinians)," created internal closures which are "quite unrelated to security," and created curfews "which in effect imprisons an entire population in their homes." It also says that, "As a result of border closures and international movement restrictions, (the per capita income of occupied territories) is reduced to $1,680."
These "nights of broken glass" continue today and are realized by more and more people each day. Part of a petition signed by 486 Israeli troops reads: "We hereby declare that we shall not continue to fight this war of the Settlements. We shall not continue to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people. We hereby declare that we shall continue serving in the Israel Defense Forces in any mission that serves Israel's defense. The missions of occupation and oppression do not serve this purpose - and we shall take no part in them."
Violating the human rights of the Palestinians doesn't aid in justice, doesn't aid in security and certainly doesn't aid in the peace process.
