Protests and protection
These university protests filled slogans images with that and are are antisemitic clearly and anti-Israel, and call for the destruction of Israel in particular, and Jews in general. STEVEN D. RAYSON TORONTO
UN should send an occupation force to control Gaza Student demonstrators could become a ‘moral force’ in global approach to Palestine, Walkom, May 3
The Israeli government, in concert with its right-wing supporters, has no intention of responding to the pleas of the UN, including Canada and the U.S., to act with caution to protect the lives of innocent Palestinians.
Their pleas fall upon deaf ears, as the preliminary objective of Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu government is to seize Palestinian land for the benefit of some, but not all Israelis. We have already witnessed evacuated Palestinian properties in northern Gaza that were quickly seized by the “right” without a word of condemnation from Netanyahu.
If the UN and member nations are really serious about ending the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians in Rafah and elsewhere in Gaza, the solution is not rocket science. Pleas will continue to be ignored, but what Netanyahu and his followers can’t ignore is action.
The UN should, without delay, inform Netanyahu that it will be sending an occupation force to Gaza to protect Palestinian citizens and property. Such an action is not without precedence, Rwanda comes to mind. Surely in the name of humanity such action is warranted.
Gord Wilson, Port Rowan, Ont.
Israel has a moral obligation to protect its citizens
While acknowledging that the boycott demands by participants are widely considered “extreme,” columnist Thomas Walkom suggests that they are nevertheless “palatable” due to the world’s “watching Palestinian babies dying in real time.”
He also suggested that critics of this movement, especially those calling participants’ behaviour antisemitic or objecting to its radical claims, are merely stuck on a “familiar story” and are upset about “the new emphasis on Palestinian rights.”
Walkom compares this “movement” to the Vietnam anti-war protests from the 1960s.
Nothing could be further from the truth. These university protests are filled with slogans and images that are clearly antisemitic and anti-Israel, and call for the destruction of Israel in particular, and Jews in general.
Israel has every right to exist, and a moral obligation to protect its citizens from further attacks. This conflict could end at any time if Hamas, a recognized terrorist organization, surrendered its weapons, recognized Israel’s legitimate right to exist, and exist peacefully, and returned the hostages. Steven D. Rayson, Toronto
Protesters’ rights protected; Jewish rights are ignored
It is shameful that this newspaper gives legitimacy to those who ignore laws regarding trespassing, masking at a rally, uttering hateful and inciteful remarks and even threats. It seems that the rowdy riff raff has all their rights — even illegal ones — protected while the rest of the public, in particular the Jewish members of the public, can have their rights ignored routinely.
I am a University of Toronto alumnus and I am embarrassed that the U of T has chosen the path of appeasement.
Dr. Sheldon Cooper, Thornhill
In a world full of horrors, why pick one oppressor? Young voices on campuses rally for peace and justice in Palestine, Opinion, May 8
I am bewildered when people talk of peace but only want convenience, Drakes-Tull, May 8
“They pledge to confront hatred and injustice wherever it manifests itself” says one column. “How many more people must die for us to realize that order is only useful when it means justice for all?” says another.
And yet, the Chinese genocide of the Uyghur people continues for years without significant protest. The Rohingya are massacred in Myanmar, but there’s nary a campus encampment in sight. Darfur? East Congo? Silence. Expanding laws criminalizing homosexuality are ignored; is state-sponsored homophobia acceptable to our student activists?
The list of injustices not confronted goes on and on. One must wonder why in a world full of horrors that it is only now and only for this one oppressor that such extensive protests arise? What is it about Israel that is different from all the others? Justice for all? Hardly. John Gavin, Toronto
Calm wisdom and illuminating perspective
Shellene Drakes-Tull brings exactly the combination of calm wisdom and illuminating historical perspective that is constructive in the current situation of short-fuse rhetoric and overheated reaction.
Our premier, as usual, feels compelled to blurt when he has nothing to say.
John Meyers, Goderich, Ont.