"There is a deep affinity between the United States and Israel. I'm not talking about the Israel Lobby, which concentrates its influence in Washington. Or the connections between neoconservatives and the Israeli right wing. Or the rhapsodizing of fundamentalist Christians, who embrace Israel as part of their scenario for the Apocalypse. The affinity runs deeper: We are both settler states.
But the early American Zionists and their successors were considerably harsher toward the Native Americans, who were pushed further and further west, an expulsion as tragic as the Palestinian nakba of 1948. America, like Israel, believed in the "redemption of the land…by settling it." And today, after some backsliding in the redemption department, the reservations of Indian Country, with their limited sovereignty, represent our own two-state solution.
The settlers of North America got away with murder. If there had been a United Nations in the 19th century or an international media catering to an international audience, perhaps Native Americans could have enlisted some allies in their struggle. They largely fought alone.
Not so the Palestinians. The whole world is watching (and blogging). Israel has been pounding away at the Gaza Strip for nearly two weeks. It began a ground assault this past weekend. The UN has condemned the violence and the resulting humanitarian disaster. International diplomats have called for a ceasefire"
John Feffer, Foreign Policy in Focus