National Post (National Edition)
Disproportionate outrage over Gaza
Re: Proportionality Of Outrage Absent On ISIS, Rex Murphy, August 9. If people want a proportional response from the Israelis, in response to the actions of Hamas, I guess the following should occur: Israel should indiscriminately lob 10,000 rockets in Gaza; it should build tunnels for Israelis to enter Gaza in order to kidnap and murder its citizens; it should also have a provision in its constitution calling for the death of all Palestinians and the complete eradication of Gaza and the West Bank.
S. Flamer, Toronto.
Imagine if all of the greenhouses Israel left behind in Gaza had not been promptly destroyed by the Palestinians. Imagine if all of the effort, resources and money that went into building the terror tunnels had been used to build something for the benefit of the Palestinian people. Imagine if the Palestinians did not spend so much effort teaching their kids hate.
Imagine a flourishing agricultural industry. Imagine a vibrant economy in Gaza. Imagine open borders, Palestinians working in Israel and Israelis safely visiting Gaza and spending money there. Imagine if Hamas valued a live Palestinian as much as a dead Israeli.
Al Lightstone, Richmond Hill, Ont.
Rex Murphy rightly points out the hypocrisy of those who protest Israel’s actions to defend its citizens, while they claim to care for Palestinian civilians. It appears that these protesters have no corner in their hearts for the hundreds of thousands of innocents intentionally murdered in other conflicts. The inevitable question is: Why does Israel merit all the condemnation? The inescapable answer is that Israel is the Jew-
ish state. Does that sound like anti-Semitism?
Steve Samuel, Toronto.
I want to commend Rex Murphy for his wellwritten article on “proportionality.” Perhaps the violent anti-Israel (read: anti-Jewish) rioters in, say, Calgary, should have taken “proportionality” into account when they literally beat up people for holding other opinions. That kind of “proportionality” is common place in Gaza, by the way, where Hamas publicly executes anyone who speaks out against the terrorist organization.
Sarah Samole, Jerusalem.
Rex Murphy should understand that the reason critics are so hard on Israel is not because they are anti-Zionists, but because Israel is a democracy that champions human rights for its own citizens, just like other Western democracies. We see Israel as one of us, and it should therefore be subject to the same criticism as a country such as Canada, France or the United States would face.
You can’t compare dictatorships, such as Russia and Syria, or a terrorist groups, such as ISIS, to a democracy such as Israel — it is absurd. It is because we see Israelis as equals, that we expect them to behave better.
Bruce Heringa, Edmonton.
Rex Murphy forgot to mention that this is not the first time Israel has killed civilians while ‘’defending itself.’’ Therefore, to call the criticism of Israel ‘’bashing’’ is just wrong. Furthermore, to say that all Palestinian civilians were killed because they were used as human shields, is just a very specious justification.
Pierre Grenier, Burnaby, B.C.
Soon after the Holocaust, some people criticized the Jews for not defending themselves, for being cowards and for going like sheep to the slaughter. Now, 70 years later, the same kind of people are again criticizing the Jews, this time for defending themselves and their country against enemies that plan another Holocaust. This is pure anti-Semitism and Jew-hatred all over again.
Lou Hoffer, Thornhill, Ont.
I never thought I would be on the same side as Rex Murphy and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but I am stunned by how the tiny turf war in the Middle East has gone viral. As Mr. Murphy points out, there are far more vicious attacks on innocents going on in Syria, Egypt and Nigeria, just to name a few. Over 160,000 men, women and children have been slaughtered in the last three years in Syria alone, and many of those deaths were particularly brutal. And yet, we don’t see the outrage that we’ve seen over the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Andy Mulcahy, Victoria.
When one considers the murderous actions of ISIS, Hamas and the governments of Syria and Russia, Rex Murphy is right to encourage us to ask why we see such a disproportionate amount outrage by the United Nations and others (mostly leftists) towards Israel, which is merely acting in self-defence. When one analyzes the position of leftists on any issue, there always seems to be two underlying goals at work: punish the successful (egalitarianism) and erode liberty (statism). As for Israel, the left hates it for being a strong, successful and free.
Glenn Woiceshyn, Calgary.