The 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s \I Have a Dream"" speech was honored last weekend throughout the country as profound event in American history. In his speech, King called out the hypocrisy of American segregation and emphasized the values of the American Constitution that hold all human beings equally.
An important dilemma that arose in America in the last century when we ceased to be an isolated continent and became a player in the international arena concerned our role in international struggles for freedom. As the super-power we need to set an example and recognize that upholding human and civil rights in our foreign policy is just as important as upholding them in our domestic policy.
The American people tolerate our government's foreign policy of finding allies in oppressive regimes without recognizing the hypocrites we are to the rest of the world. The examples are numerous when our government has not only supported these regimes but if they are challenged by internal revolution we have used our power to squash the so called ""terrorists"" from overthrowing their oppressors. As British Journalist Robert Fisk said: ""Far better to have Mubarak or a King Abdullah running the show than to let the Arabs vote for a real government that might oppose U.S. policies in the region.""
On Sept. 11, 2001 when the world watched the twin towers fall, many Americans asked, ""Why?"" The rest of the world seemed to already know the answer. While there is no moral justification for the attacks on America, there are reasons.
Terrorist organizations do not gain popular support among people who feel they are free. Timothy McVeigh found little support in the United States because no one agreed that there was a need for a violent uprising. President Bush said the 9-11 attackers hated American freedom and wanted to destroy it. The support that Osama Bin Laden finds in the world is from people who envy and desire American freedoms. People in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco and many other subjects of oppression see us value our own rights and liberties, yet support their oppressors.
The United States supports Israel, giving them more foreign aid than the whole of Africa, despite the fact that Israel blatantly violates multiple international treaties on human rights. Not only have these rights been defined as inalienable by international law, but anyone with a sense of justice agrees that all men, American, Israeli or Arab, deserve freedom.
Multiple United Nations General Assembly resolutions have condemned Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian territories. This occupation is one of the most profound and lasting obstructions to peace in the Middle East.
According to the Fourth Geneva Convention the Israeli Defense Forces violate international agreement to protect civilians during engagement. Palestinian homes and agricultural fields are routinely destroyed, civilians are blockaded in their homes, making it impossible for them to generate any source of income, Israeli soldiers arrest and detain Palestinians without due process and, according to Amnesty International, Israel is the only country in the world that legalizes torture.
Israel is an apartheid state comparable to South Africa. ""I am a black South African, and if I were to change the names, a description of what is happening in the Gaza Strip and West Bank could describe events in South Africa,"" said Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Most relevant to many, however, is that U.S. aid to Israel violates U.S. laws. The U.S. Arms Export Control Act strictly forbids the government from giving military assistance to any country that violates internationally recognized human rights.
Yet the State Department's 2001 human rights report states that ""Israeli security units often used excessive force against Palestinian demonstrators including live fire...[Israeli security units also] impeded the provision of medical assistance to Palestinian civilians by their strict enforcement of internal closures, which reportedly contributed to at least 32 deaths. Israeli security forces harassed and abused Palestinian pedestrians and drivers who were attempting to pass through the more than 130 Israeli controlled checkpoints...""
The United States has made itself an illegitimate mediator in the Middle East by continuing to arm Israel without restriction and, thereby, allowing these weapons to be used against civilian populations. This contradiction provokes anti-American sentiment across the world and may put Americans at risk.
