Hala Rharrit was a U.S. diplomat for 18 years. Her job was to go on Arab television and explain United States policy. She resigned on May 6, saying the president and the secretary of state are actually endangering U.S. national security with their support of Israel.

When Anthony Blinken questions the accuracy of the death toll in Palestine that is dehumanization it is downplaying the gravity of the situation. In an interview Rharrit said, “We had three of our troops killed in Jordan. That was in direct reaction to our Israel policy. And when that happened, I said, again, ‘I will not be part of this.’ And then, if an attack happens on American interests in the region, I would not be able to sleep at night, because my face on that screen, on that Arab news channel, may have been the thing that prompted the person to go and retaliate or commit an act of terror.”

It’s pretty serious when people feel like what they say can lead to a grenade into the barracks of one of the 800 bases we have scattered around the world. We are more exposed than we think.

We need to look in the mirror and ask ourselves “Do we really believe in Liberty and Justice for all?” We make our kids say it every single morning. The pledge of Allegiance is the first order of the day for every public school in the United States.

If we really believe “all People are created equal” can we condone the starvation happening in Gaza? Just think of the basic math. Before Oct. 7, 500 trucks a day carried food and other supplies into Gaza. The Israelis have been restricting supplies to 100 trucks a day. There are children starving to death. There are hundreds of trucks waiting to go into Gaza. The Israelis are keeping the border closed.

We are financing this war. It is our tax money at work and everyone in the Arab world blames us for it.

Starvation is a human rights violation and in fact a war crime. It is also a terrible way to die. Even if a child survives it can seriously affect their health for the rest of their lives.

After the damage of the second World War, governments got together and laid out some rules for conducting war. One of them was journalists were neutral observers and should not be targets. The Israelis have killed more than 100 journalists in seven months.

Hospitals are another off limit target. There are no functioning hospitals in left in Gaza. Children are dying from their wounds. We have no idea how many people are under the rubble.

When asked about the student protest Hala said, “The bottom line is, I think there is a fundamental generational shift in not just the United States, but globally, because these students, much like people across this region, have been consuming on a daily basis the images coming straight out of Gaza. They’ve been seeing on their social media feeds the children that have been dying of starvation. They are seeing on their social media feeds the bloody toddlers that are being carried with an arm blown off. They’re seeing this on a daily basis. And it took them seven months to rise. If President Biden, if Secretary Blinken had solved this crisis, there would have been no student protests.”

The free world is coming together. The International Court of Justice has issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on war crimes.

Diplomacy is the only path to a lasting peace. As long as there is such suffering another generation will grow up full of hate, plotting their revenge. A separate Palestinian State with no involvement from Israel is the only lasting solution.

There is no longer any need to fight over resources. We have machines that can pull water out of the air. When you have water you can grow food. People are going hungry because we are building weapons instead of life giving machines.

Every desert on the planet is growing. People are on the move. There is going to be more conflict unless we can switch gears and make real change.

Marie Tomlinson is a Fredonia resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com