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| 'Have we learned nothing since Guernica?' | 'Have we learned nothing since Guernica?' |
| (4 months later) | |
| The two large and very similar photos of women, one a grieving Palestinian, the other an Israeli in shock (Report, 17 October), trade in a grotesque deception: that Israel and Gaza are suffering in equal measure. If it is no surprise that Netanyahu seeks re-election by pulverising Gaza and claims that Israel is the victim of Palestinian aggression, it is however reprehensible for the Guardian to plug the shop-worn fable of equivalence. The fourth most powerful (and US-backed) army in the world is once again bludgeoning one of the most oppressed, impoverished and overcrowded places on the planet. No matter that Israel struck first or that Hamas fired rockets, this absurd horror has been going on for years. There is no equivalence between occupied and occupier, prisoner and jailer. What we are watching again is the shooting of fish in a barrel. Bruce McLeod Skipton, North Yorkshire | The two large and very similar photos of women, one a grieving Palestinian, the other an Israeli in shock (Report, 17 October), trade in a grotesque deception: that Israel and Gaza are suffering in equal measure. If it is no surprise that Netanyahu seeks re-election by pulverising Gaza and claims that Israel is the victim of Palestinian aggression, it is however reprehensible for the Guardian to plug the shop-worn fable of equivalence. The fourth most powerful (and US-backed) army in the world is once again bludgeoning one of the most oppressed, impoverished and overcrowded places on the planet. No matter that Israel struck first or that Hamas fired rockets, this absurd horror has been going on for years. There is no equivalence between occupied and occupier, prisoner and jailer. What we are watching again is the shooting of fish in a barrel. Bruce McLeod Skipton, North Yorkshire |
| • I cannot remember a more outrageous calumny in a respected newspaper than the assertion by Egyptian author Ahdaf Soueif that "Israel is a democracy where politicians may order the murder of children to score electoral points" (Gaza is no longer alone, 17 November). | • I cannot remember a more outrageous calumny in a respected newspaper than the assertion by Egyptian author Ahdaf Soueif that "Israel is a democracy where politicians may order the murder of children to score electoral points" (Gaza is no longer alone, 17 November). |
| Whatever one's views of the larger picture, there is a fundamental difference between the policies of the two sides: Hamas and the other extremist militant groups in Gaza aim their rockets at Israel's population centres, their intention being to kill and injure civilians (and, as proclaimed by Hamas, to damage or destroy Israel's parliament building, the Knesset). The rocket aimed at Jerusalem could have landed in the midst of the Muslim quarter. This does not suggest much concern for civilian life on the part of the Hamas leadership. | Whatever one's views of the larger picture, there is a fundamental difference between the policies of the two sides: Hamas and the other extremist militant groups in Gaza aim their rockets at Israel's population centres, their intention being to kill and injure civilians (and, as proclaimed by Hamas, to damage or destroy Israel's parliament building, the Knesset). The rocket aimed at Jerusalem could have landed in the midst of the Muslim quarter. This does not suggest much concern for civilian life on the part of the Hamas leadership. |
| Israel, by contrast, targets military sites producing and firing the rockets sent into its territory, along with those militants responsible for ordering and executing the policy. Many of these sites are intentionally embedded in overcrowded civilian areas, sometimes – tragically – resulting in collateral damage. The overwhelming majority of Israeli citizens grieve at reports of death or injury to civilians in Gaza, which is certainly not intended by their government or the Israel Defense Forces. | Israel, by contrast, targets military sites producing and firing the rockets sent into its territory, along with those militants responsible for ordering and executing the policy. Many of these sites are intentionally embedded in overcrowded civilian areas, sometimes – tragically – resulting in collateral damage. The overwhelming majority of Israeli citizens grieve at reports of death or injury to civilians in Gaza, which is certainly not intended by their government or the Israel Defense Forces. |
| Demonising the other, as expressed in the statement cited, undermines any hope of compromise and accommodation, and serves simply to inflame passions in this dreadful situation. Professor Marc Saperstein Cambridge | Demonising the other, as expressed in the statement cited, undermines any hope of compromise and accommodation, and serves simply to inflame passions in this dreadful situation. Professor Marc Saperstein Cambridge |
| • As Jewish supporters of Palestinian rights, we have once again watched in horror as Israel escalates its lethal bombardment of the civilian population of Gaza. Numerous people, including children, are being killed or wounded. Israeli casualties came only after Israel, having started the slaughter by killing a 13-year-old boy in Gaza on 8 November, shattered a truce by assassinating the military leader who had negotiated it. So who is the terrorist and who wants peace? | • As Jewish supporters of Palestinian rights, we have once again watched in horror as Israel escalates its lethal bombardment of the civilian population of Gaza. Numerous people, including children, are being killed or wounded. Israeli casualties came only after Israel, having started the slaughter by killing a 13-year-old boy in Gaza on 8 November, shattered a truce by assassinating the military leader who had negotiated it. So who is the terrorist and who wants peace? |
| Israel's political-military leaders cynically escalate the conflict, trying to justify their blockade of Gaza and acting tough in the runup to government elections. Having turned Gaza into an open-air prison, they again punish the Palestinians for electing leaders who attempt to resist the illegal occupation. | Israel's political-military leaders cynically escalate the conflict, trying to justify their blockade of Gaza and acting tough in the runup to government elections. Having turned Gaza into an open-air prison, they again punish the Palestinians for electing leaders who attempt to resist the illegal occupation. |
| Too many of our media collude with the official Israeli version: that the attacks are "targeted" retaliation for rockets launched from Gaza. Despite hand-wringing by some western governments, they encourage Israeli belligerence by labelling Hamas a terrorist organisation, supporting the Gaza siege and denying Palestinian rights, both within and outside Israel. We support the peaceful campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) designed to help achieve those rights. Miriam Margolyes Alexei Sayle Mike Marqusee Seymour Alexander Jo Bird Haim Bresheeth Elizabeth Carola Ruth Conlock Mike Cushman Nancy Elan Susan Elan Pia G Feig Deborah Fink Sonya Fraser Claire Glasman Tony Greenstein Ruth Hall Abe Hayeem Rosamine Hayeem Selma James Michael Kalmanovitz Berry Kreel Leah Levane Rachel Lever Les Levidow Moshe Machover Martine Miel Simon Natas Diana Neslen Juliet Peston Renate Prince Frances Rifkin Larry Sanders Vanessa Stilwell Sam Weinstein Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi Devra Wiseman | Too many of our media collude with the official Israeli version: that the attacks are "targeted" retaliation for rockets launched from Gaza. Despite hand-wringing by some western governments, they encourage Israeli belligerence by labelling Hamas a terrorist organisation, supporting the Gaza siege and denying Palestinian rights, both within and outside Israel. We support the peaceful campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) designed to help achieve those rights. Miriam Margolyes Alexei Sayle Mike Marqusee Seymour Alexander Jo Bird Haim Bresheeth Elizabeth Carola Ruth Conlock Mike Cushman Nancy Elan Susan Elan Pia G Feig Deborah Fink Sonya Fraser Claire Glasman Tony Greenstein Ruth Hall Abe Hayeem Rosamine Hayeem Selma James Michael Kalmanovitz Berry Kreel Leah Levane Rachel Lever Les Levidow Moshe Machover Martine Miel Simon Natas Diana Neslen Juliet Peston Renate Prince Frances Rifkin Larry Sanders Vanessa Stilwell Sam Weinstein Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi Devra Wiseman |
| • How fortunate for Hamas that its Jerusalem rocket attack landed in a field outside the city. It had as much or as little chance of hitting the al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount as it did of hitting the Knesset. Irrespective of that, because there is no control whatsoever as to what is being targeted by such Fajr rockets, each and every one fired is a war crime, but the Hamas leadership, who should be arraigned before the Hague court, are not in the slightest bit perturbed. Peter Simpson Pinner, Middlesex | • How fortunate for Hamas that its Jerusalem rocket attack landed in a field outside the city. It had as much or as little chance of hitting the al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount as it did of hitting the Knesset. Irrespective of that, because there is no control whatsoever as to what is being targeted by such Fajr rockets, each and every one fired is a war crime, but the Hamas leadership, who should be arraigned before the Hague court, are not in the slightest bit perturbed. Peter Simpson Pinner, Middlesex |
| • Jonathan Freedland really should take off his blinkers (A battle that solves nothing, 16 November). The conflict between Palestinians and Israelis is not just about who started firing the most recent lot of missiles. It's about a decades-long refusal by the Israelis to acknowledge the background – their occupation, annexation and frequent destruction of Palestinian olive groves, homes and wells; their refusal to be bound by international law over their settlements; the "Berlin Wall" they have erected through farms; the checkpoints that prevent critically ill people from getting to hospital – that has provoked Hamas intransigence and bitterness. If Jonathan Freedland – let alone the Israelis – cannot take this on board, can there be any hope for reconciliation? Fr Julian Dunn Great Haseley, Oxfordshire | • Jonathan Freedland really should take off his blinkers (A battle that solves nothing, 16 November). The conflict between Palestinians and Israelis is not just about who started firing the most recent lot of missiles. It's about a decades-long refusal by the Israelis to acknowledge the background – their occupation, annexation and frequent destruction of Palestinian olive groves, homes and wells; their refusal to be bound by international law over their settlements; the "Berlin Wall" they have erected through farms; the checkpoints that prevent critically ill people from getting to hospital – that has provoked Hamas intransigence and bitterness. If Jonathan Freedland – let alone the Israelis – cannot take this on board, can there be any hope for reconciliation? Fr Julian Dunn Great Haseley, Oxfordshire |
| • As a Jew who escaped the Holocaust in a Kindertransport 74 years ago and who voluntarily joined the British army to help fight the evil of Nazism, I utterly condemn the disproportionate response of the Israeli government to the Hamas rocket attacks. I am dismayed that both the British and American governments have given Israel carte blanche for these acts of barbarity in Gaza. Has the world learned nothing since Guernica? Emeritus professor Leslie Baruch Brent London | • As a Jew who escaped the Holocaust in a Kindertransport 74 years ago and who voluntarily joined the British army to help fight the evil of Nazism, I utterly condemn the disproportionate response of the Israeli government to the Hamas rocket attacks. I am dismayed that both the British and American governments have given Israel carte blanche for these acts of barbarity in Gaza. Has the world learned nothing since Guernica? Emeritus professor Leslie Baruch Brent London |
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