To understand current events regarding Israel Palestine, it is essential to be aware of the history and context of this issue. Originally, the vast majority of the population in what is now called Israel had been Muslim and Christian. But in the late 1800s, zealots from Europe and the US began a movement called Zionism, whose goal was to push out this population in order to take over the land for a Jewish state. For decades, this was a fringe movement, as most Jews around the world, including in the region itself, did not support it. Experts in the US State Department and Pentagon opposed it, saying it would cause bloodshed and harm to the US. Eventually, however, this movement succeeded. In 1948, Zionist forces expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Christians and Muslims and confiscated their land and property to create a Jewish state, which they decided to name Israel. Israel was now established in 78% of what had been mandatory Palestine. Then in 1967, Israel launched another war and conquered what was left of Palestine, the West Bank and Gaza. This is illegal under international law. By the way, during that war, Israeli forces tried to sink a US Navy ship monitoring the conflict, killing 34 American servicemen and injuring 174. Israel has now turned the West Bank and Gaza into open air prisons, controlling all entrances and exits and invading at will. Every day, Israeli soldiers invade Palestinian villages, beat and abduct Palestinians, including children, and destroy Palestinian property. Israel has blockaded Gaza for 14 years, causing malnutrition in children of huge unemployment and desperation. 70% of Gaza's at least, our refugee families, pushed out by Israel in 1948. Their ancestral homes and land stolen by the new Jewish state. Only in 2018, Gaza's began a mass, Gondian-type march for their rights. Israel responded by deploying snipers, and it began shooting demonstrators during their weekly protests for over a year. All these actions by Israel violate international law. Stealing people's land is illegal. Imprisoning them is illegal. Shooting and beating them is illegal. Destroying their farmland is illegal. Not allowing refugees to return to their homes is illegal. And yet, US politicians from both parties have repeatedly deferred to Israeli wishes. The Biden administration has largely retained policies put into place by Trump, whose peace plan would have permanently traveled Palestinian rights, setting Israel's theft of Palestinian land in conflict. This is no surprise, given that it was largely drawn up by a lifelong Israel partisan, and under an administration beholden to a multi-billionaire US campaign donor who has indicated he favors Israel over the US. And that the pro-Israel lobby in the US is the most powerful lobby on behalf of a foreign country in our nation. This lobby has already procured the largest aid package in US history, $38 billion of US tax money to Israel over 10 years, which works out to over $10 million per day. It was predictable that the lobby would similarly procure a deeply unfair pro-Israel plan. Sadly, this plan would not have brought peace. Injustice does not end violence. Only when the Israel lobby is expelled from its dominance over US policies will we see a plan that has a chance of bringing peace. Until then, we will continue to see the violence, tragedy, and oppression that has marked the region for over 70 years and spilled over elsewhere. It's time to stop it. It's time to speak out, to share this information with others, and to stop allowing a special interest lobby to ferment policies that hurt everyone.