The body of a boy killed by a shell fired by an Israeli naval gunboat on a beach in Gaza City, July 16, 2014. REUTERS/Mohammed Talatene

In an opinion piece published on Monday, July 13, Detroit News Editorial Page Editor Nolan Finley called on world leaders, including those in Washington, to “let Israel finish the job.”

In his editorial, Finley argues that no international pressure whatsoever should come between Israel and its war plans and that the right wing-led government of Israel should be allowed to finish Hamas once and for all to halt the Palestinian Islamist organization’s rocket attacks. 

Referring to Palestinian civilians who would be murdered by his proposed all-out assault, Finley writes, “Whatever collateral damage occurs in the process, any and all civilian casualties should be charged to Hamas’ account, and not to Israel’s.”

Here, Finley bluntly exposes his disregard for Palestinian life. He quantifies dead Palestinians with the word “whatever” and labels them as “collateral damage.” 

Finley’s choice of words proves indifference to the loss of human lives because of their national identity. It is racism.

His flawed argument attempts to victimize Israel, as if the United States, whose commitment to Israel is unconditional and unshakable, is holding back the Israeli army and enabling Hamas. The truth is that White House officials have repeatedly reaffirmed “Israel’s right to defend itself.” The Israeli army is funded and sponsored by our tax money.

War is not black and white. Nullifying your opponent is not possible. As Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish says, “Me or him, that’s how war begins. But it ends in an uncomfortable meeting: Me and him.”

Crushing Hamas will not end the violence. Resistance is a reaction to oppression. As long as Israel is illegally occupying and colonizing Palestinians’ land, demolishing their homes, extra-judicially arresting their children and fragmenting their communities with settlements and checkpoints, there will be no peace. Justice is a prerequisite for peace. As Pope Paul VI said back in 1971, “if you want peace, work for justice.”

As long as the apartheid system is thriving in the West Bank, there will be resistance. Jewish residents of the West Bank have special access to roads, while their Palestinian neighbors have to go through an Israeli army checkpoint every time they want to leave their town. Settlers have their own exclusive schools and public transportation system. They vote in Israeli elections, while their Palestinian neighbors can’t.

Even if Israel were to kill the last Hamas operative, another organization will be born out this injustice to stand up and fight it.

The narrative presented by Finley does not only fail to put this round of violence into the broader perspective of a 70-year conflict, but it also fails to go back a few weeks to when this fight was ignited.

This battle started after Israel accused Hamas, without providing any proof, of kidnapping and killing three Israeli teenage settlers in the West Bank. Extremist settlers then went on a spree of racially-driven attacks against West Bank Palestinians. They burnt a Palestinian boy to death, as Israeli forces rounded up hundreds of young Palestinians and demolished dozens of Palestinian homes in acts of collective punishment. 

However, it is hard to argue facts and truth with people who see history through a distorted lens of racial bias. 

Finley’s words suggest he is a racist apartheid supporter. But he is entitled to his own views. The constitution grants him the right to call for war on the other side of the world from the comfort and safety of his office. However, his hateful, bigoted words should not appear in the pages of the Detroit News.

Bottom line, the scores of dead Palestinians might be “whatever collateral damage” to Finley. But they should not be considered so by the Detroit News. These are human beings with names, stories and goals for the future. These are the relatives and friends of some of the Detroit News’ readers in the local Palestinian American community.