NewPolicy.org condemns Israel’s attack on humanitarian ships sailing from Europe to end the Gaza blockade. The attack on the Freedom Flotilla demonstrates Israel’s increasing isolation on the global stage. NewPolicy.org calls on Congress and the Obama administration to publicly condemn Israel’s actions to pro-peace and humanitarian activists of whom nine were killed and scores were injured in Israel’s botched operation. The president and Congress should also move swiftly to end the siege on Gaza, which has placed undue burden on Gaza’s population, 80% of whom rely on food distribution while 50% remain unemployed. Furthermore 15% of Gaza children have experienced abnormal growth for their age, stunting, an early sign of starvation.

The United States, as Israel’s strongest ally, should ensure that our support does not harm our security nor our moral standing in the world. The Obama administration and Congress must distance the United States from Israel’s inhumane actions early Monday morning and speed up the process of ending the Gaza siege, freezing Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and ending the occupation. Given that the United States is Israel’s primary financier as well as its security guarantor, anything less than outright pressure on Israel would be viewed all over the world as American acquiescence and complicity with Israel’s stall tactics.

The security of American troops and personnel in the Middle East depends on a just American stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Already there were protests from Karachi to Paris, with rising tensions certain to endanger American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. A comprehensive settlement for peace is in America’s national interest. Israel must decide whether it is willing to pull out of the occupied territories and allow the declaration of a Palestinian state, otherwise Israel must give Palestinians Israeli citizenship. The current situation is untenable and highly combustible.