(The following opinion piece by Dave Grishaw-Jones was posted on the SeacoastOnline, Nov. 4th.)

"Around the world and across the political spectrum, decent people are vigorously debating who’s to blame for the horrific violence visited this month upon Palestinians in Gaza, and whether that violence is in any way justified by the equally horrific murder and kidnapping of Israelis on October 7. While Hamas bears obvious responsibility for the terror that day, and while the Israeli government bears its own responsibility for collectively punishing all of Gaza in the days since, I want to suggest that it is the inaction of American politicians, and the indifference of the American public, that allowed this grim cycle of violence and oppression to advance so sadly to this point.

To be clear, we have known, for decades, that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, and its systemic project of planting illegal settlements in the West Bank, and its collective punishment of and siege on Gaza—all of this amounts to a brazen violation of international law and human rights standards. On this there has been international consensus (bolstered by a series of United Nations resolutions) for 50 plus years. More recently, but not surprisingly, human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and B’Tselem (the latter of which is the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories) have all produced detailed analyses in which Israel’s occupation clearly meets international criteria as a system of apartheid. To be clear, apartheid is defined internationally as a crime against humanity that meets three conditions: 1) a system of separation or segregation for domination (based on race, creed, or ethnicity) that is 2) legally enforced and 3) entails the commission of human rights violations, or inhumane acts. That’s what we’re talking about. And that’s what this so-called war is seeking to make permanent and legitimate."

To read the rest of Dave's opinion piece, go here.