What people also don't realize is that they are also supporting an invasion. The Israeli Defense Forces are killing people on land which does not fall under their jurisdiction; they are killing people who are marching in their own streets, in front of their own homes. As of last 184 Palestinians have been killed, 54 of them children.

I am not a supporter of violence. I merely hope to help people understand the roots and causes of it. The international community is decrying the excessive use of force by Israeli forces, along with various international human rights organizations (including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Israeli human rights group B'tselem). Protests have been held all over the world, including here in America. The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution--with 14 out of 15 countries voting in favor and only America abstaining--calling on Israel to stop its excessive use of force. The U.N. General Assembly also passed a resolution condemning Israel's excessive use of force against Palestinian civilians.

But international pressure doesn't seem to sway the state of Israel. With Israel as the greatest recipient of U.S. military and economic aid, it is high time that the American people took a stand in reining in Israel.

Yasmin K. Bin-Humam '03 is an economics concentrator in Eliot House. She is a member of the Society of Arab Students.