Like many people the world over I am deeply distressed with the continual, tragic conflict and carnage in Palestine. It is therefore disheartening to read about more Israeli settlement building, the suppression of protests, arrests, beatings, detentions, killings and curfews and total lack of progress towards a just resolution. Despite this bad news, a notable and welcome development is that even staunch allies like Australia and the USA are finally expressing mild criticism of the rogue state of Israel, in regards to the settlements, forging of passports and other matters. The recent actions by Israel and resulting bad publicity have exposed the true nature of the Israeli state to many more people around the world.

This publicity has severely embarrassed and upset the US and Israel’s other Western allies. They don’t like such damning exposure. This is because Israel could not occupy Arab land, build illegal settlements, break UN resolutions and international law, and kill and oppress the Palestinian Arab people without the consent and support of these countries. The US in particular continues to provide the diplomatic, political, economic and military support to enable the Israeli war machine to operate.

The US and its allies are the key to resolving the conflict. It is vitally important at this juncture, that the peoples, organisations and the governments of the world that seek and support justice for the Palestinians and peace in the region continue to increase the pressure on Israel’s Western backers. And it is vital that activists continue to expose the role that Australia, the US and Britain play in condoning and sustaining the colonial settler state. To end this tragedy and to achieve a viable and just solution to the Palestinian problem let’s keep up this pressure.

Steven Katsineris,
Hurstbridge, Vic [Abridged]