In June 2014, three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and killed by Palestinian terrorists. In response, a Palestinian was kidnapped and killed a short time after. What came next was described by the UN as "unprecedented in Gaza, at least since at least the start of the Israeli Occupation in 1967".
After Hamas fired rockets at Israel, the Israeli government carried out Operation Protective Edge, launching rockets for the next 50 days, into August 2014. After the conflict, a total of 2,300 people were killed, mainly Palestinians.
At the end of the conflict, 2,200 Palestinians were killed, with 1,500 of them civilians. Israel, on the other hand, had only 71 casualties, with 67 of them soldiers, capturing the lopsidedness of the conflict. In addition, about 500,000 Palestinians were displaced, with 108,000 homeless from the rocket launches.
The Call to Justice is not only because of the inequalities in the war, but the Israelis also targeted UN-chartered schools that held refugees.Before the conflict erupted, the UN made sure that the Israeli government knew where the schools were and that it was against international law to target and destroy them. Regardless, about 7 schools were bombarded.
Even though this is an Israeli and Palestinian conflict, it also affects us as Americans. Each year, we fund the Israeli government's army, about 3 billion dollars a year, the most military financial aid to any country in the world. This aid comes directly from our taxpayer money, and can be stopped by keeping our politicians accountable.
In addition, our politicians need to enforce international law more carefully. Fortunately, after the conflict ended, a commission was instituted to "break the persistent impunity for crimes under international law by Israel and the Occupied territories".
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