Wadi Hummus fiasco

It shames me to say so, but I probably agree with Gershon Baskin’s comments in “Have we no shame?” (July 25).

The reason I say “probably” is that I’m writing this without actually having read the article because I don’t want to read that writer’s biased Palestinian propaganda.

If, as I suspect, he is referring to the demolitions in Wadi Hummus, then yes, this was a stupid thing for Israel to do. Israeli often claims that “the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity;” unfortunately, Israel also never misses opportunity – to shoot itself in the foot!

If there is to be any chance for peace, then Israel must win the hearts and minds of the Arab population, and it shows a lack of common sense to destroy hope by knocking down some unfinished buildings while leaving older adjacent ones intact. OK, so they were building in breach of some obscure planning permission rules, but I can’t help thinking of Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, where the Vogon Destructor fleet destroys the Earth, because the earthlings were too lazy to visit the local planning department on Alpha Centauri, which is only four light years away! The person that ordered the Wadi Hummus destruction has the same mentality, but unfortunately for Israel, the rest of the world does not, and this action only reinforces the “aggressive Israelis” stereotype that the antisemitic media portrays. So, Israeli innovation: 10/10, Israeli emotional intelligence: 0/10. BOB KNIGHT Modi’in