In 2005 US aid to Palestinians amounted to $400 million while the EU provided aid of $600 million. According to the World Bank this and other foreign aid amounted to about half of Palestine's per capita GDP of $934. Since the election of the Hamas leaders, the US took responsibility for organizing the embargo, cutting off its own aid to Palestinian civilians and openly pressuring European governments to embargo their aid as well to deepen impoverishment.

Not satisfied with the level of suffering it was inflicting, Israel found pretext to further ratchet up the humanitarian catastrophe when an Israeli soldier was captured by Palestinian guerrilla fighters on June 27, 2006. Israel dropped bombs, fired missiles, and shelled populated areas, killing 162 people in July and destroyed vital civilian infrastructure. Israeli forces also blocked transport of food, water, and medical supplies in Gaza and assassinated or imprisoned Palestinian leaders. As the Washington Post reported on its front page on August 28, 2006 "More than 200 Palestinians, at least 44 of them children, have been killed in the past 8 1/2 weeks. Three Israeli soldiers have been killed. Huge Israeli bulldozers and 'pinpoint' missiles have razed at least 40 houses and dozens of other buildings, according to the army, leaving many families homeless. Daily skirmishes regularly result in new casualties. The Israelis attack with tanks, F-16 jets and artillery."

On August 18, Israeli Prime Minister Olmert announced suspension of his Kadima Party's sole election promise, a unilateral withdrawal from portions of the West Bank and dismantling of certain ethnically pure Jewish settlements there. While Israel had made significant gains in public opinion from its highly publicized August, 2005 withdrawal from Gaza, the heightened criticism of Israel over the war in Lebanon persuaded Israeli officials that they would not be able to convince international public opinion that the withdrawal from portions of the West Bank was anything other than a bid to consolidate Israeli control over the other portions.

Like the 2000 withdrawal from Lebanon, the withdrawal from Gaza was merely a temporary measure to facilitate a later military attack. Recognizing that a military occupation of territory with a civilian population incurred responsibilities for those civilians under international law and because of resistance to the occupation organized by Hezbollah, Israel withdrew its ground forces from Lebanon in 2000 after an 18 year occupation. Then when a proper pretext was presented on July 12, 2006, Israel used intense bombing to drive out almost the entire civilian population south of the Litani River. Its ground troops would then be able to return unhindered by the presence of civilians to clean out surviving guerrilla fighters. However, this long planned strategy failed because of the ability of the Hezbollah fighters to survive the bombing and inflict heavy casualties on invading Israeli soldiers.

In Gaza Israel is using a variant of this strategy. Using such security pretexts as the capture of Israeli soldiers and the firing of amateur rockets, Israel has avoided intense international criticism for its military action and for creating the humanitarian disaster for the civilian population. These policies have nothing to do with protecting the security of Israelis and everything to do with Israel's goal of intensifying misery to drive out the civilian population so Israeli settlers can then move back and take over their land.

The defeat of Israel's strategy to clean out the population and acquire land and water in southern Lebanon opened the possibility of criticism of all aspects of Israeli policy and society. A new generation of returning Israeli soldiers are currently protesting, camped out in the Rose Garden opposite the prime ministers office. Though limiting their criticism to tactical issues, as noted in an article by Gideon Levy in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on August 29, the possibility exists for deepening the questioning to the suffering inflicted on Lebanese and Palestinian civilians. Why is Israel putting acquiring land of its neighbors ahead of life itself? Now that the limits of military power have become evident, all Israel's policies, including economic strangulation, massive bombing, troop incursions, imprisonment, targeted assassination, torture of prisoners, seizure of fertile agricultural land, ethnically pure Jewish settlements, and destruction of power plants, bridges, and apartment buildings, could come under questioning as offensive to Jewish values and human values. Israel's political strategy of using pretexts and provoking pretexts to continually advance its policy of ethnic cleansing could also come under intense scrutiny.

Palestinian civilians have been courageously steadfast in the face of Israel's brutal military and economic program. But that is not sufficient. A massive worldwide campaign is urgently needed now. This campaign must protest escalating Israeli reprisals against civilians and Israel's many other violations of international law. It must call for the immediate withdrawal of all Israeli soldiers and settlers from Palestine. It must call for an end to US government and corporate support for Israeli aggression. It must call for a truly democratic Israeli government where all ten million people living under its rule have equal rights and where discrimination based on religious identity is abolished. It must politically challenge every aspect of Israeli policy. As with the South Africa campaign of the 1980s and 1990s, teach-ins, rallies, and demonstrations as well as sanctions, boycotts, and divestment are needed now to prevent Israel's intentional humanitarian disaster from proceeding and to demand a fundamental change in the Israeli government.

James Marc Leas is a member of the National Lawyers Guild and is a board member of the Refuser Solidarity Network. He has long been active with Jewish peace groups opposing the Israeli invasions of Lebanon and occupation of Palestine. He practices patent law in South Burlington, Vermont and can be reached at jolly39@juno.com

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