Claims of defense don't match the reality in Gaza

In media coverage of the violence in Gaza, the voices of Palestinians are, as usual, absent.

The voices of the Israelis have proclaimed defense. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak was quoted as saying: "There is time for calm and time to fight." Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni stated on "NBC News" that Israel has the right to defend itself from Hamas and has the right as a sovereign country to defend itself.

Outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush told the Israeli government that the United States will stand by Israel. President-elect Barack Obama is refraining from taking a stand at this time, but when a commentator on this subject pressed his aide David Axelrod, he responded that Israel has the right to defend itself.

Am I surprised? Not one bit.

Israel can kill every Palestinian in Gaza and the West Bank and will not lose the support of the U.S. government. I admire Israel's spin machine and sometimes wish that Palestinians would learn a lesson on this subject. But spinning is not what is at stake at this moment. Neither is the question of alliances. The question we must tackle today is how can we salvage humanity in Israel and Palestine?

The tragedy happening in Gaza should be examined with full objectivity, not the uneven sort being done by the U.S. media. "What is happening in Gaza is a hallmark for war crime," Nobel Peace Prize winner the Rev. Desmond Tutu told the Israeli Haaretz newspaper. His statement was based on his experience with apartheid in South Africa and his eyewitness accounts in Gaza and the West Bank. More