Justin Mattingly’s Aug. 28 front page article on Harel Rush, a former Syracuse University student who left school to join the Israeli Defense Force to fight in Gaza to ensure the continuance of Israeli occupation of Palestine, glorifies the apartheid state of Israel and furthers the racist Zionist narrative that Israel is “protecting” itself from the Palestinian resistance lead by Hamas.

Since July 8, over 2,000 people have been murdered by Israel (80 percent of whom are civilians), including 437 children and 246 women, and over 10,000 people have been injured. The vast majority have been civilians and the Israeli government has targeted hospitals and schools. The siege of Gaza clearly meets the ICC’s definitions of genocide (“the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”), and war crimes (“widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population.”) Almost all Israeli deaths are in the IDF.

The conflict between Israel and Palestine is not a war between two equal sides, as the corporate mainstream media portrays it. Palestine does not have a standing army, navy or air force. Palestine does not receive hundreds of billions of dollars of military and economic aid from the United States. Israel would not exist as an entity if it was not backed by U.S. imperialism. The only reason that there is a cease-fire currently is because of the heroic resistance by the Palestinian people, and the increasing amount of criticism Israel is receiving from the international community for its genocidal actions.

When people are occupied, resistance is justified! Down with Zionism! Down with Imperialism!

Collin Chambers
Member of Syracuse ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism)