No lessons learned.

It has been horrifying to watch this most recent iteration of wanton violence in the Israeli-Palestinian arena. But it should not have been unexpected. What can also now be expected is that the horrific murders carried out by Hamas on day one will be more than matched by Israel as it proceeds to use its massive military power to massacre thousands of captive Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip.

What is also par for the course is that the USA, instead of playing the role of the adult in the room, has once again reduced itself to being a cheerleader and coat-holder for one side, enabling and supporting Israel's escalation of violence. In this regard, it was shocking to note that the State Department deleted two of its initial statements calling for restraint and protection of civilians, changing them to statements offering Israel our full support.

It's distressing to see this nightmare unfolding precisely because we've been down this same road so many times before and, by now, should know exactly where it leads. It takes us back to where we began.

After the dust has settled and the tears have dried, other than having thousands of dead to mourn and bury, we'll be right back to where we were when it started. The one change will be that hardliners on all sides will have gained support - with no lessons learned - thus sowing the seeds for another round of violence, at some indeterminate point in the future.

The lessons we should have learned are many. To begin with: just as violence will not end the occupation, neither will violence end the resistance to the occupation. Suicide bombers or Hamas rockets didn't bring peace, they only hardened Israeli attitudes against Palestinians and peace. And Israel's violent occupation, massive retaliations, its strangulation of Gaza, and its brutal repression of the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem hasn't squashed the Palestinian will to be free. It has only fueled more resistance.

While all parties share some degree of blame, I mainly fault successive US administrations for failing to play its self-proclaimed role of the promoter of human rights and peace. It has abdicated its responsibility diminishing itself to become Israel's partner in the oppression of Palestinians. For shame.

Occupation and oppression are cruel and inhumane- and the consequences of occupation cannot be ignored. As a corollary of this, efforts by the US and Israeli leaders, going back to Shimon Peres, to build...