This week, one of the biggest tragedies and crimes of a nation against an oppressed people have been perpetrated by the Israel Defense Force in recent days against overwhelmingly unarmed Palestinians and the outcry against it from the mainstream American free press was largely a moment of silence.

A friend and former longtime newspaper reporter, like so many political liberals, also was silent on the murders of the Gaza Palestinians who were massed at the barrier fence between Gaza and Israel proper, although he was in favor of President Trump's erratic missile response in Syria to the film of the gassing of civilians in Syria, even though many reasonable observers, reporters, and experts in chemical warfare were unsure of the origin of the attacks.

In Gaza, viewed widely as the world's largest open air prison, there was no doubt about the identity of the perpetrators of the wanton killing of people who, if they were armed, were in possession of rocks and slings that launched stones at the Israeli troops, who are among the most well-armed soldiers in the world. The Palestinians have massed to observe the 70^th anniversary of the “Nakba,” (Arabic for “the catastrophe”), the ethnic cleansing of their people of what was to become the State of Israel. At the time, most were assured that they would be given the right of return after the hostilities.

At the same time, adding gasoline to an already inflamed situation, Trump's order that the U.S. embassy be moved to Jerusalem, is his way of recognizing the sovereignty of the government of Israel to most of the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, as right-wing Israelis contend. He conveniently ignored that Jerusalem is also the capital of Palestine and is one of the most important places in the world for Christians.

If there were any hope for peace between Israel and the Palestinians (and, for many years, there has been only dwindling hope), Trump and his vice president, Mike Pence, have scuttled it. Pence by and large has praised every move that Trump has made, including his dabbling in Middle East diplomacy, of which he knows little or nothing. This ignorance is sure to lead to even more turmoil in the region, which has seen more turmoil than any developing nations need to see in many lifetimes.

As is generally known by those who follow the politics of the Middle East even casually, Gaza was “given back” to the Palestinians by Israel in 2003, when Ariel Sharon was prime minister, the action was adopted by the Israeli government in June 2004, and approved by the Knesset eight months later. In reality, though, it never was “given back.” Israel and its military have been virtual prison guards, controlling everything that goes in or out of the strip. For example, a Palestinian takes his life in his hands if he so much as goes offshore in a rowboat to fish to feed his family.

There is no freedom for Gaza itself and, every once in a while, Israel finds a reason to “go to war” with Gaza Palestinians and the result is an even further debasement of the systems that provide for a minimal standard of living. Schools, hospitals, water and electric infrastructure have been damaged or destroyed in these “wars” and very little is reported about these things or the razing of housing. There is no equivalency in the two sides of the so-called wars. While it's true that Gazans have launched rockets into Israel, but they usually are ineffective, although they keep a small minority of Israelis in a state of fear.

On the other side, there is one of the most powerful militaries in the world, supplied by its own weapons industry along with that of the U.S. There is no equivalence in any dispute or conflict. It's a boot crushing a gnat. Israelis, referring to the Palestinians, have said that, every once in a while, they have to “mow the grass,” to keep Palestinians off guard and their capability of a response to oppression to a minimum. Clearly, the implication, if not overt sentiment, the Palestinians are not much more valuable than blades of grass that need to be shorn regularly. That, they have been doing.

Much of the responsibility for Israel's attitude and that of its leaders is because of the bi-partisan support of American presidents and the major parties, Republican and Democrat alike. The U.S. carries a very big stick, the most powerful military on earth capable of bombing any nation back to the Stone Age. Every world leader knows that and Trump has made it a regular public point, adding that he is the one who can launch a strike or start a war as he wishes. In this, he (and the Congress) is ignoring the constitutional requirement that Congress is the power to debate and declare war, not the president alone. For Trump, that's a mere formality and just small stuff.

Right now, however, Jewish peace activists are making every effort to stop the mass killings of unarmed Palestinians. Of the two million inhabitants of Gaza, tens of thousands are massed at Israel's fence, demanding the right of return as was promised 70 years ago. Jewish Voice for Peace, which is vociferously condemned by the Israeli government and many Jewish leaders in the U.S., said this week, “...(T)he catalyst for this nightmare is...us. As Americans, the new embassy in Jerusalem sends a clear message from the Trump administration: the Israeli government can do whatever it wants. Snipers, blockades, legal assaults on basic rights, ongoing expansion - there’s evidently nothing this administration won’t sign off on. It’s never been more clear that change in U.S. Israel/Palestine policy is only going to come from the grassroots.”

While Israel and U.S. governments of all stripes have called most Palestinians terrorists, the right of oppressed peoples to attempt to throw off their oppressors is recognized by the world community in principles adopted by the United Nations. In the Syrian gas attacks, there has been no concrete evidence that Assad (whatever kind of dictator he is) and his government did it. Many experts have viewed the evidence and declared it unlikely that he did. But, in the murders of Palestinians who are demanding that they be free of their oppressors, it is clear that the Israeli military has perpetrated the massacres and it's likely that they will continue to do so. Don't expect Trump to order the launch of missiles on strategic Israeli targets. Neither he, nor any other American politician would so much as utter a protest, let alone let missiles fly. Look for more extrajudicial killings of Palestinians who demonstrate. Where's the outrage?