The prosecution has announced that it is dropping the indictment against Ze'ev Braude, the West Bank settler who was alleged to have shot two Palestinians at close range during the evacuation of a disputed house in Hebron in December 2008, and was caught on film doing so.

Let’s be honest with ourselves, you are never going to see the headline, “Suicide bomber cleared: Judge says ‘Man had bad day.’”  Yet, throwing away the rule of law is part of Israel's assumed means of "survival."

In the US, we are so enamored by the trappings of “conflict resolution,” that we imagine a “conflict” that at best sees two sides with equal grievances. Under Israel/Palestine's current status, it is not a governmental structure setting laws that applies equally to both peoples, but one people that rule over another, inside and outside of Israel's (undefined) borders. Yes, Israelis have a narrative, but it doesn't legitimize it--every dictator or apartheid state had its motivations and swan song, but it doesn't validate its actions.

In reality, you have occupier and occupied; those that implement a system of apartheid and those that suffer its policies. Israel assassinated four people in Gaza today, continues to expand settlements, and shoots non-violent protesters (Palestinian and internationals) too frequently to count. While Israeli liberals will profess their humanistic nature and deliver us introspective cinema 26 years later in the form of Waltz With Bashir, there isn't a present push by these so-called liberals to see justice for the millions of Palestinians who continue to suffer after 42 years of occupation and 61 years of dispossession.

Yet Israel's "progressive" counterparts in America go crazy for an awesomely fantastic speech in Cairo? Not only do we need action and not rhetoric, but we need the right type of action (i.e. a fundamental change in policy, not just blustering about settlements Netanyahu has no plans in tearing down). With Obama at the helm, I am not holding my breath.