Nothing ‘pathetic’ about fight to return home

Re Duelling narratives at Israel’s border, Rosie DiManno, May 28 Rosie DiManno’s column is so blatantly biased that it appears racist in presenting Israel as morally superior to the “inherently violent” Arab Middle East. She completely ignores the violence that Israelis enact against Palestinians on a daily basis — not to mention the thousands that have been injured, even killed, in Gaza for simply exercising their right to free speech.

I cannot believe the Star would allow a column that openly labels Palestinians as “pathetic” for holding on to keys to their homes, “homes they and their descendants will never see again.” In fact, the right of return is enshrined by international law. So, in fact, DiManno is calling for the squashing of Palestinian human rights. Miranda Gallo, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, Montreal Rosie DiManno cynically informs us that history is littered with lost civilizations, implying that the Palestinians in Gaza should just accept their fate and join the ranks of history’s victims.

But she fails to note that most of the people in Gaza are descendants of those who were removed from their homes in what is now southern Israel, and that they have never accepted their dispossession. Indeed, many of them are prepared to die protesting Israel’s refusal to allow them to return to their homes.

DiManno suggests there is no political remedy, stating that the two-state solution is “a cruel pipe dream.” As several Israeli politicians have observed in recent years, there are just two alternatives to the two-state solution: a single democratic state or apartheid. Which of these two alternatives would she endorse? Muhammad Ali Khalidi, Toronto Having lived and worked in the Levant and Arabian Gulf for 30 years, I have a continuing interest in and hope for peace between Israel and Palestine. This column by Rosie DiManno is one of the most disturbing pieces I have read. Its distortions of fact are frequent and her obvious biases are very counterproductive. The only solution to the crisis is the establishment of two independent states, Israel and Palestine. There will never be peace without such a solution.

Gaza is one large prison with Israeli (and Egyptian) guards. One cannot excuse Israel’s actions during the demonstrations. No Israeli lives were in danger; the shooting of the demonstrators should be considered as war crimes. Robert Cook, Toronto