Caught between Israeli bullets and Palestinian stones a father and son huddled behind a metal container for protection. Within seconds Israeli bullets killed the 12-year-old son, Mohamed Jamal Al-Durra, who slumped into his father's lap. While mourning for his son the next round of bullets severely wounded the father. An ambulance man bravely rushing toward them was killed instantly.

In the worst violence in the occupied territories since 1996, Israel's killing fields left 53 dead and over 1300 wounded. Mohamed Jamal Al-Durra joins thousands of children who have been killed since Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza in 1967 to fulfill the Zionist dream of Eretz Israel. To Israel, the millions of native Palestinians are simply a strategic obstacle to that dream.

1948 European Jews blatantly and forcefully robbed millions of native Palestinians of their land, homes, water, and identity while killing thousands in the process and erasing from the world's maps and conscience hundreds of Palestinian villages. This atrocious injustice so soon after the Holocaust was done by a people persecuted throughout their history who metamorphosed from helpless victims into persecuting survivalists. This was done with the complicity of world powers and the intimidated self-serving silence of the remaining nations devastated by war, hunger, and disease. After WWII Jews adopted America as their superpower conduit to building a rich militarily strong nation unafraid and unconcerned about justice, morality, democracy, and world opinion. Uncle Sam became the treasurer, the enforcer, and the protector of Israel.

Amazingly, while American Jews comprise less than two percent of the population their influence and power in our government, financial centers, media, and Hollywood are enormously out of proportion to their population. That influence translates into shaping public opinion and policy. No candidate for local, state, or federal office dares take a position that despite its merit and truth opposes the American Jewish agenda. The unemployment line is littered with politicians and reporters who have dared take on AIPAC, the American Israeli Political Action Committee. It takes Congress only hours to pass bills and resolutions supporting Israel while America's business takes months to years. Congress even funds the Holocaust museum annually with about $35 million but denies any funding to a memorial for our brave WWII veterans who liberated the Jews in Germany.

For 52 years, two thirds of Palestinians live as squalor refugees in and outside of Palestine. Twice in their history, in 1948 and 1967, Israel has launched wars to evict them from their land and homes, including Arab East Jerusalem. Israel's silent partner in its wars, massacres, house demolitions, human rights abuses, imprisonments and torture (even of American citizens) has been it's friendly Jewish owned, influenced or intimidated American media (with few exceptions such as the Christian Science Monitor). The media's role toward Israel has been "Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative". Americans who are to busy in their "pursuit of happiness" are deprived of the truth of Israel's injustices and the role of our pandering government in protecting and financially supporting Israel's actions.

Clinton's reckless remark that he wants to move the Embassy to Jerusalem combined with a pro-Zionist Congressional campaign with their endless bills and resolutions supporting Israel at all times emboldens hard line Israelis to avoid peace despite their forked tongue rhetoric.

Ariel Sharon, the murderer of thousands of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila camps, decided to preempt the return of Netanyahu as his challenger by taking one thousand police (with Barak's approval) and storming Islam's Holy Mosque in Jerusalem knowing full well that this will lead to confrontation and the death of Palestinians and perhaps the peace process. Palestinian lives are meaningless to Israel and the rest of the Holocaust guilt ridden western world. Sharon was blamed by Israelis, Arabs, Europeans, and even our own government for provoking the violence.

As an American citizen, I believed I had the right of speech, the right of religion, had the right to have my views heard by my Representatives and President. I believed that my precious vote meant something, believed that our domestic and international policy would be based on justice, liberty, equality, fairness, and what is right for America and the world.

Unfortunately, I discovered that although I am a citizen, my political credentials are wrong. Being an Arab, a Muslim, with brown skin, I am relegated to a non-political entity. Just as Israel has succeeded in dehumanizing Palestinians and desensitizing the world to their suffering, its powerful friendly media has succeeded in making my faith, Islam, my identity as an Arab, and my opinions, not only meaningless but also undesirable.

My only confirmation that I'm an American is my passport. When I write letters critical of Israel to newspapers they seldom get published. When I call my Representatives regarding Anti-Islam/Arab bills I get preformed thank you letters, when I complain to movie studios or TV programmers about Islam, no one responds. I realize many ethnic groups experienced similar attitudes before me. But I had hoped that by now we have matured as a nation, and that we as people would realize that our apathy and alienation from our own government leaves a vacuum for the small powerful interest groups who occupy Congressional offices and are able to send money to rich corporations and nations, like Israel, in the hundreds of billions of dollars while our schools, hospitals, roads, and elderly are in such dire need.

I am acutely aware that the standard byline for American activism is to unite your ethnic group, flush campaigns with money, and lobby hard. Is it fathomable that our Congress sells America's principles, values, morality, sense of justice, and America's weapons and technology to kill civilians simply to fill their campaign coffers? Whatever happened to "liberty and justice for all", to "We the People", "all men are created equal", to "government for the people." It seems America is dead or dying as all strong empires eventually do when 'we the people' surrender our soul, liberty, votes and keys to our government houses to the powerful and the rich.

Our silence is leading to the deaths of American children and Palestinian children. I ask that you seek the truth yourself. It's time to launch the real AIPAC: the "American Interest Political Action Committee. Let's begin with Campaign Finance Reform and a shout: "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore." Mohamed Jamal Al-Durra, may you and your friends rest in peace.

Mohamed Khoder is a medical doctor and Muslim activist living in Winchester, Virginia.