Letters to the Canary: Israel, Gaza, and the Labour Party dominate people’s thoughts

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This week’s letters

This week we have more people’s thoughts on the situation in Israel, Gaza, and the Occupied Territories, plus the Labour Party. 

Israel/Gaza has dominated the letters

The problem is not caused by the people of Israel.

The problem is not caused by the people of Palestine.

The problem is Hamas. The problem is Likud – the current government and leadership of Israel. And the people who take both their sides.

Take the extremists out of the equation and you can begin to have peace.

Ordinary people in Gaza, Israel and the West Bank should not be made to suffer for the crimes of extremists on both sides.

There must now be a ceasefire, followed by a suitable settlement resulting in independent states of Israel and Palestine.

It can and must work, and would have succeeded if Yitzhak Rabin and then Yasser Arafat hadn’t be killed by extremists on both sides.

E, via email

I keep hearing Israel was caught off guard. The fence around Gaza is the most sophisticated barrier you could imagine with all types of electronic detectors. Yet the Israeli Defence Forces did not respond to numerous breaches of the barrier for six hours. This also after Egypt had informed Israel and the US several days before of an imminent major attack by Hamas.

The Israeli government has been under severe domestic pressure for the last nine months. It not only needed a distraction, in Israel an attack on Gaza is the usual choice, but now there are avowed fascists in the government who openly want to wipe Gaza off the map. Was this their game plan?

Previously the Palestinians have gained a negotiating advantage by taking hostages, Israel considered it of prime importance that they had returned any of their citizens. This time Israel is not responding to this and is simply bombing Gaza back to the ‘stone age’ with little regard to human life including their own citizens held hostage.

It is frequently said that Hamas stated aim is to destroy Israel. Whereas Israel’s policy over the years has been to create a Jewish state over the whole of Judea and Samaria, ie. the elimination of Palestine and the Palestinians.

I also wonder if the discovery of oil off the coast of Gaza has contributed to the current rampage to eliminate the Palestinian presence in Gaza.

Graham, via email

The media seems focused on vilifying Israel. I have not heard one Gazan interviewed say ‘I understand why Israel is bombing us’. I am sure the majority know what Hamas did in Israel to men, women, children, and babies – but all I hear is they are killing our babies? Decades of Intifadas, terrorist attacks, and how many wars since the beginning all ignored.

I have not heard one journalist remind the world in every war there are many innocent lives are lost – men and women, young and old, children and babies. Collective punishment? I have not heard any say that Hamas started the war in such an inhuman way that they knew full well the response of Israel would be there no admission to collective hatred of all Israelis.

I have not heard any remind the world that the Arabs of Palestine have consistently chosen to reject every opportunity to form their own state and live in peace. Has anyone considered Hamas’s agenda is regional war? Media: all I hear read and hear is racist hatred towards Jews & Israel.

Thank you.

Margaret Moir, Australia, via email

The Labour Party: part of the problem?

I’ve been a Labour Party member for over 30 years. I resigned once during the war on Iraq. I rejoined to support Ed Miliband. I campaigned in the last election walking door to door with Keir Starmer. But I resigned again when I heard Keir, along with the prime minister, condone the cutting off water, electricity, food and medicine from the over two million civilian population of Gaza.

He has still not condemned the genocide that is taking place there now. The whole place is being flattened. Those who survive the attacks will have lost everything and are likely to live in UN tents for the rest of their lives.

While the attack by Hamas on 7 October was horrific and rightfully condemned by everyone, Israel’s ongoing cruel revenge is totally disproportionate and breaks international law. Thousands have been killed and injured – over 7,000 people, over 40% of which are children. Many thousands have lost their homes. An aid worker in Israel told me last night she was hearing explosions in Gaza every 30 seconds.

Since this catastrophe began in Gaza the Israelis have also been discretely killing Palestinians and taking over their homes on the West Bank. This is barely reported in the media.

Last Saturday I went on the Gaza peace march in London – young and old demonstrators walking alongside many Jewish and Muslim individuals and families. Two Israeli friends accompanied me. One Jewish man I spoke with told me:

“It is our tradition to side with the oppressed – not the oppressor. That is why I am here.”

In Israel, more and more people do not want to live in such a cruel apartheid system. Why do western governments support it? Please world leaders, condemn Israel’s collective punishment of the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and call for a ceasefire before more innocent people are killed.

Josephine Siedlecka, via email

I don’t agree with all your articles but hey, I could be wrong. The Labour Party, who I will support at the next election, is probably cock a hoop at the last two election results. However, some of my friends are the kind of troops the party needs to get out and about at election time. Frankly, they are less than enthusiastic about Sir Keir and most of his ministers.

Personally, I would never vote conservative but might lend my vote to the Lib Dems. These died-in-the-wool Labour voters are so seriously pissed off with Starmer and his relentless fence sitting that they may fail to engage in the next election.

Labour will probably win, but not with the big landslide they are all gloating about at present. It’s about time they came out with full support for proportional representation and gave us all a chance to have a vote that counted for something.

I lived on and off in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire for over 12 years. I thought when I moved there I would have a vote that counted. We lived in the only Conservative constituency in Scotland. I then moved back to Usk in Monmouthshire. Dress a monkey in blue and my friends here would vote for it.

Frank Duffin, via email

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