“I am human”
— and so are they.

I learned as a child that “wrong is wrong.”

Historically Jewish people have been wronged; there is no doubt. Anti-Jewish sentiment is on the rise here at home and around the globe. What happened to Jewish people on Oct 7 was horrific and wrong.  I have and will continue to stand up and speak out about hatred of, and acts of violence against, Jewish people.

I also reserve the same right to speak out about the wrong I see against Muslim and other Arab people.

What I am witnessing today happening in Gaza, the West Bank of Palestine and in Lebanon, is WRONG!

What I am witnessing today happening in Gaza, the West Bank of Palestine and in Lebanon, is WRONG!

Israel “settlements” are wrong and propaganda.

A settler is someone who arrives and develops an empty land, unclaimed land.  The Palestine and Lebanon land was taken by brutal military force and was not  “empty or undeveloped” — NOT UNTIL Israel terrorized, murdered and drove the innocent people from their land and property by force.

The Palestine and Lebanese people have been invaded and are being occupied and suppressed by Israel while the world sits quietly by and watches. In the U.S’ case, we are supporting and helping to fund this terror.

Israel’s “yellow lines” are nothing more than new words for the theft of sovereign territory by military force and terror. The “yellow lines” and settlement expansion are another word for colonial exploitation that suppresses a people’s right to self-determination and human dignity.

One man’s “security buffer” is another man’s “occupation, oppression and colonization.”

One man’s “security buffer” to protect Israeli civilians from regional threats is another man’s “occupation, oppression and colonization.”

Today Israel has occupied Palestine and Lebanon land with military force and occupation, displacing millions by brutal force causing death, injury, starvation, fear, terror and destruction.

The Israel government is doing so in violation of international law — but what are laws without enforcement?

Might makes right today in the Middle East. Israel is the U.S.’ proxy if not the other way around.

Even a blind man can see the systemic inequality between the Israel people and the Lebanon and Palestine people.

“Never Again” must be a universal promise to protect any group from mass slaughter and forced displacement.

Is “never again” happening again — this time under the power of the Israel government?

Asking this question is not in any way meant to trivialize the Holocaust and weaponize Jewish trauma — but to pose a legitimate question. If what is happening in Lebanon and Palestine are not the moral equivalent of “never again”,  they are dancing close to the edge by the Israeli  government’s actions.

“Never Again” must be a universal promise to protect any group from mass slaughter and forced displacement. It is hard to argue that Israel has not used their power to force an engineered forced migration and famine on the people of Palestine and now Lebanon and to force them from their land.

Reports galore proliferate emphasizing the systematic destruction of universities, hospitals and heritage sites, which critics describe as an attempt to erase Palestinian and Lebanese  life and culture. Sound familiar?

There should not be an internationally sanctioned “Jewish supremacy” over Muslim and Arab people.

I learned as a child what was right and what was wrong. To my Jewish brothers, sisters and friends what I am seeing with my own eyes is morally wrong and reprehensible.

It is not anti-Semitic to speak my truth.

It is not anti-Semitic to speak my truth. And opposing the current government of Israel and the horrible actions it is taking is not synonymous with being anti Jewish. I oppose my own government’s complicity in this terror campaign.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has had a scorched earth approach towards Israel’s enemies — but it should not spill over on innocence as it has.

Perhaps after a possible change of Israeli leadership in the country’s October elections, humanity may return to Israel. Polls show that more than 75 percent of Israelis believe Benjamin Netanyahu should step down.

We’re in an era of no consequences for aggression. Those that don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Please wake up America!

– Tom Watkins has been a participant/observer in the domestic and international political scene for a half century. He previously served as deputy chief of staff to former Michigan Gov. James Blanchard, state mental health director, state superintendent of schools and as president/CEO of the Economic Council of Palm Beach County, Fla. and president/CEO of the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network.