Brutal bombing
Regarding “Increasingly, Israel’s critics blame the Jews” (WJW, Aug. 7), if American Jews are going to publicly defend Israel’s brutal bombing of Gaza and the taking of close to 2,000 lives, most of whom, as the article notes, are women and children, then they better be prepared to take the heat and not pretend to dictate what their critics can and cannot say. They can’t have it both ways.
JEFF BLANKFORT
(From the web)
Illogical solution
The loss of all civilian life is regrettable. Recent media articles, including “IDF violates obligations” (Letters to the Editor, WJW, Aug. 14), pointing to the disproportionate number of deaths during the fighting between Palestinians and Israelis, have erred in identifying Israel for bearing this responsibility. There are many credible news reports out of Gaza describing the Hamas policy to deliberately shell Israel from hospitals, schools and densely populated areas, and also to prevent civilians from leaving these areas after their shelling spree of Israel starts so that the obvious Israeli retaliation will cause many civilian deaths and arouse world sympathy for the Palestinians.
Asking Israel not to bomb these areas to end the shelling emanating from them so that Israeli deaths will occur instead in order to achieve equal proportionality is an illogical solution for ending civilian deaths. It will cause civilian deaths in Israel. Instead we all should pressure Hamas to end its shelling of Israel permanently and encourage the Palestinian Authority to arrive at long-term peace with Israel to avoid all civilian deaths and future threats to Israel along with achieving improved living conditions for all Palestinians.
RALPH SHAPIRO
Silver Spring
Cease-fire is premature
An op-ed by Rodney Brooks – “The ‘Post’ enters Headline Hall of Shame” (WJW, Aug. 21) – pointed out the bias in The Washington Post reporting of the Hamas/Israel fighting. Noteworthy has been the Post’s support for the repeated cease-fire agreements that have been broken by Hamas.
Like other pundits in the media the Post continues to insist that the fighting between Hamas and Israel must be resolved by diplomatic negotiation. This is nonsense; history has revealed repeatedly that the only way such wars can end in a longstanding peace is when one side, having been defeated, agrees to an unconditional surrender. This does not mean that the victor has to demand unduly harsh terms, but it has to result in the disarming of the vanquished, thus avoiding repeat hostilities and further bloodshed.
War is awful. Life for too many on both sides is totally disrupted, with both combatants and civilians being killed and maimed. All this bloodshed and anguish without leading to total victory means the whole exercise has been meaningless.
Diplomacy has a roll to play, but only when conditions on the ground allow it to be constructive. That time has not yet been reached. So I ask again: What can possibly be gained by agreeing to another cease-fire that merely delays the time interval until the next battle?
DR. STANLEY ORMAN
Rockville
No Hellfires
I read “Will Israel get Hellfire?” (WJW, Aug. 21)with great interest. My thoughts are that since Obama is anti-Israel in every way, the Hellfire missiles will not be delivered.
RENEE Y. LEASE
Brooklyn
Intentional delay
Dmitriy Shapiro did an excellent job of reporting the Obama Administration double-talk in its anti-Israel policy (“Will Israel get Hellfire?” WJW, Aug. 21). The new, additional review inserted by the anti-Israel crowd in the White House and State Department could have no other purpose than intentional delay. If additional input or consideration was actually the intention, that could be easily satisfied by a simple briefing by the Defense Department experts – the usual approach for getting expert information.
The effect of the insertion of untutored, anti-Israel political hacks is to do exactly the opposite of what is claimed. Since the Hellfire missile is among the most accurate in the world, the effect of withholding Hellfire missiles is to increase collateral damage due to both (1) the lesser accuracy of the alternative and (2) the need to increase artillery to ensure taking out a target. What Obama gains is the ability to falsely blame Israel for increased damage.
ROBERT BERMAN
Vienna
Kudos to Cuomo
As the world continues to grapple with the uncertainties surrounding the conflict between Israel and Hamas, it remains a key concern for us. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo understands this. Thus, he recently returned from a “solidarity trip” to Israel (“Gov. Cuomo should visit Palestinian sites,” Voices, WJW, Aug. 21).
The threat facing Israel today is perhaps unprecedented, and I’m not just referring to the physical threat. Israel’s legitimacy is currently being challenged daily by those who would like to claim the moral high ground. I greatly appreciate his gesture in expressing solidarity with the Jewish state.
To the best of my knowledge, Gov. Cuomo is the first governor to visit Israel since this crisis started more than a month ago.
Personally, I would be delighted to see an additional 49 governors visit Israel, perhaps within the next 49 days. The world at large must see this as well. They must understand that it’s not just the Congress of the United States that stands shoulder to shoulder with the Israeli people. It is also the governors – every single one of them — who represent some 300 million Americans standing together in supporting the State of Israel.
EZRA FRIEDLANDER
New York
