Letter to the editor: Time to end apartheid in Israel

It is with sadness and frustration that I witness my country’s role in supporting the apartheid government of Israel. It seems that we champion human rights everywhere on the planet except for the Palestinian people. Their plight over the last 75 years is like no other group. They were displaced by the victors of World War II to create modern Israel. Since then they have been marginalized, victimized, and then blamed for the actions of violence forces that are a product of an apartheid state.

It has gone on long enough. We envision ourselves as champions of justice, and eventually we did end apartheid in our own country, and then oppose it in countries like South Africa. So why the delay with holding Israel accountable for either not formulating a “two state solution” or truly giving basic human rights and full citizenship to Palestinians?

We cannot claim to be the leaders of the free world, standing up for injustice everywhere, then making an exception for the Palestinian people. For those that consider themselves a follower of Christ, a progressive, or a humanitarian, Americans should demand that our government take a leadership role in ending the apartheid imposed on Palestinians by the government of Israel.

Tom Balya

Greensburg