I read today of an attack by Israeli “settlers” on a Palestinian village. The report said that this was the most grievous attack in a while, so grievous that four settlers were arrested. It was not another Wounded Knee, but the ethos at work is the same. The Palestinians own the land, the “settlers” want the land, and the “settlers” are going to take it. I would love to know how many of the “settlers” are of American or European background. That would explain a lot about their mistreatment of the native people.

These “settlements” are colonies founded on Palestinian land that has been seized by the Israelis. The Israeli government occasionally harrumphs about the illegal settlements, but that is a matter of wink, wink, nudge, nudge. The United States, recognizing kindred I-want-it-I take- it spirits in Israel, has given unimaginable amounts of military aid to Israel. And America alone, among civilized nations, keeps silent at Israeli neglect of international law and its many civil rights abuses.