NOT AS SELF-EVIDENT AS PALESTINIANS WOULD HOPE

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." – The Declaration of Independence (unanimously adopted by the Continental Congress, July 4, 1776)

Every time I read this section of our Declaration of Independence I am filled with a sense of awe by the language contained therein that recognizes the God-given right of every people to self-determination and the right to form their own government. Our Declaration of Independence begins with a profession that those rights are "self-evident", but judging by the United State's current position vis-à-vis the Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, those God-given rights are not as self-evident to America's leaders in 2011 as they were in 1776. If they were, America wouldn't be threatening the Palestinians to prevent them from declaring themselves an independent nation and seeking recognition of that status in the United Nations. We'd be steadfastly backing their bid to self-determination.

Instead, America has chosen to sacrifice our founding principles in favor of maintaining close foreign ties with the Nation of Israel, who by its continued military occupation and annexation of Palestinian territory, denies Palestinians the very right of self-determination we Americans claim is God-given and self-evident to everybody. No wonder people in the Middle East view Americans as hypocrites and hold such distain for our principles. Apparently, we don't think much of our principles either, because we don’t follow them. That's a shame. Thomas Jefferson put a lot of time and effort into drafting the Declaration of Independence and the Continental Congress showed their wisdom by debating and then adopting it. You'd hope that such wisdom would survive the ages. Apparently not.