By Clay Evans
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1023-22.htm--------snip---------
Even as American newspapers carried stories about the Gaza withdrawal, Israel continued to build its West Bank security wall and expand settlements in the occupied territories, she says. Gaza's borders, ports and airspace are controlled by Israel, and Palestinians still live with daily closures and checkpoints. Israeli officials have publicly said that the pullout was essentially a tradeoff for continued building in the West Bank.
"Such policies create hatred," Hammerman says.
Few Americans, says Sherene Abdulhadi, a Palestinian Muslim, really understand that their government supports policies of occupation and religious segregation, not just in Israel-Palestine, but in Iraq.
"You cannot be a citizen of Israel unless you are a Jew, even if you were born there," she says. "In America, the culture is about diversity. How is it that (your) government supports ethnic division?"
--------snip--------
As a fifth grader back in 1971, I can remember learning about this conflict in classroom discussions we had, and from a publication our school subscribed to called the Weekly Reader---doesn't seem to me like too much has changed.