My published Ltte: Palestinian Children Also Endure Violence

[Larkspur]

in today's The Day, Eastern CT newspaper,
http://www.theday.com/eng/web/news/re.aspx?re=3468B6BD-75D7-4881-A9D2-16B737D305DC

All Americans should . . . deplore those who condone and excuse terrorism, according to Faye Sherman's letter. (“Hatred of any kind is simply anti-American,” Oct. 18.)

According to human-rights organizations, more than 500 Palestinian minors have been killed in the current intifada by the Israeli military, compared to over 100 Israeli minors by Palestinian suicide bombers. So who are the terrorists?

Unlike the pro-Israeli apologists, but like the ancient Israelite prophets, Gideon Levy in his Oct 17, op ed, “Killing children is no longer a big deal,” had the courage to publicly rebuke the Israeli Defense Force and his fellow citizens. (www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/489479.html)

"The fact is that the blood of hundreds of Palestinian children is on our hands. No tortuous explanation by the Israel Defense Forces' spokesman's office or by the military correspondents about the dangers posed to soldiers by the children, and no dubious excuse by the public-relations people in the foreign ministry about how the Palestinians are making use of children will change that fact. An army that kills so many children is an army that has lost its moral code...

The public indifference that accompanies this pageant of unrelieved suffering makes Israelis accomplices to a crime..."

For Americans who want more information on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I suggest the web site “If Americans Knew what every American needs to know about Israel/Palestine” at www.ifamericansknew.org/.

And Ms. Sherman sparked another response alongside my LTTE and this letter writer also seemed to have read the same Haaretz op ed from Gideon Levy that I did. What a coincidence!!
‘Anti-Semitic' Can Be Wrongly Used
http://www.theday.com/eng/web/news/re.aspx?re=A1B4E9D9-BE28-4138-9DC4-F46080F7B3DB

Hassan Fouda is a human-rights activist who appears to advocate a peaceful solution to the violence in the occupied territories. As Faye Sherman states, “Blind bigotry perverts logic to the point where disseminators of hate are extolled and the victims are condemned.” (“Hatred of any kind is simply anti-American,” Oct. 18.)

Perhaps Ms. Sherman should read the newspaper Haaretz and an article “Killing children is no longer a big deal” by Gideon Levy.

According to Mr. Levy: “More than 30 Palestinian children were killed in the first two weeks of Operation Days of Penitence in the Gaza Strip. It's no wonder that many people term such wholesale killing of children ‘terror.'”

Whereas in the overall count of all the victims of the intifada, the ratio is three Palestinians killed for every Israeli killed, when it comes to children the ratio is 5:1. According to B'Tselem, the human rights organization, even before the current operation in Gaza, 557 Palestinian minors (below the age of 18) were killed, compared to 110 Israeli minors.

“Palestinian human-rights groups speak of even higher numbers: 598 Palestinian children killed (up to age 17), according to the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, and 828 killed (up to age 18) according to the Red Crescent. Take note of the ages, too. According to B'Tselem, whose data are updated until about a month ago, 42 of the children who have been killed were 10; 20 were 7; and eight were 2 years old when they died.

“The youngest victims are 13 newborn infants who died at checkpoints during birth.”

So, is anyone who is alarmed the human-rights practices in the occupied territories an anti-Semite or self-hating? Or is the use of the charge of anti-Semitism a political tool of a demagogue blinded by bigotry and hate who is unable to logically see in perspective the issue at hand?

[TomClash]

1. No way . . .

those air attacks in the Gaza Strip are precision strikes that only kill terrorists!

[Forkboy]

2. Excellent letter Larkspur!

now,expect this post to locked and vanquished to the nether regions of DU,where it will promptly be locked again.

[Larkspur]

3. Thanks.

I sent it Monday afternoon and it got published today. The paper didn't even call me to confirm, but I've had a letter published in The Day at least once a month since June of this year, so guess they trust me.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. Score a point for sanity!

[TomClash]

5. Congratulations on your letter

To insulate yourself against these bogus charges of anti-semitism, you can simply say: "About half the population in Israel agrees with me. Are they anti-semities too?"