More than 1,000 civilians were killed in Gaza by Israel’s military in July, including children playing soccer on the beach and patients in hospitals. Today comes news from the United Nations that the bombing of a U.N. school there appears to investigators to have been deliberate.

These events and the ongoing siege of Gaza, called the largest open-air prison on the planet, cause many in the United States to reflect on why we send Israel more than $3 billion each year of our hard-earned taxes. Billed as “military aid,” this money is essentially corporate welfare as it invites Israel to buy weapons while we pick up the tab.

We pick up the karma, too, when we enable and support Israel’s ongoing land theft and human rights violations against Palestinians. Yes, the Holocaust happened. However, it does not in any way excuse Israel’s violent ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

No one’s security is increased when violence is used against trapped civilians.

I urge others who are sick of helping to fund this violence to contact their elected officials and protest. (The recent unanimous Senate resolution supporting Israel is a good reason for Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins to hear from us.) We can join vigils and demonstrations calling on Israel to stop the killing. We can gather our own information, for example, read the testimony of Jewish Americans and Israelis who oppose the violent Zionist regime now running Israel. Mondoweiss.net is a good place to start. So is Gideon Levy’s column in Haaretz, Israel’s oldest newspaper.

The one thing we shouldn’t do is look away. Not if we want a safer world for our families.

Lisa Savage

Solon