Sir, – In light of the continuous and merciless assault on Israel from Gaza it is clearly obvious that the swopping of “land for peace”, when Israel handed over Gaza was a grave mistake.This mistake, made in good faith, is one which Israel should and will never repeat.
We should therefore realise that all this talk of a “two state solution” is complete, utter and unmitigated nonsense. Those Palestinians, all of their Arab neighbours and others who outwardly support this ruse know in their hearts that what they really want is a one state solution, ie the elimination of Israel, her right to exist and the slaughter of her entire population.
We in Ireland should finally realise this agenda. It is more than ever now obvious that in the words of the Israeli prime minister Binjamin Netanyahu “If the Arabs laid down their arms there would be no war, if Israel laid down her arms there would be no Israel”. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I was shocked and saddened by the insensitive report on the economic cost to Israel of its most recent spate of attacks on the Palestinians in Gaza (Mark Weiss “Israel counts cost of war: €60m spent so far could rise to €800m”, November 19th).
As a Palestinian with family in Gaza, I have spent the past few days in a constant state of worry and fear for them. Every day we hear reports of the mounting Palestinian casualties. To date more than 750 Palestinians have been injured; and 92 killed – more than 40 of whom are civilians. Of these civilians there are reports that half are children. Many readers will have seen the harrowing images of the bodies of four children from the same family.
In spite of the staggering number of Palestinian civilian casualties, your report sees fit to emphasise the civilian cost of the war in the context of its effects on Israelis: “The civilian cost of the war, including rebuilding infrastructure, compensation for employees absent from their jobs due to the war, and compensation for factories unable to operate during the war, may reach €200 million, depending on the damage to property and infrastructure.”
I find this callous in the extreme and am disappointed that such a piece was printed. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Not only does Raymond Deane falsely accuse Israel of instigating the current conflagration with Hamas, he also conveniently ignores that since the beginning of the year, more than 1,000 rockets and mortars have been fired from Gaza into Israel. Since October alone, hundreds of rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel; it was only on Wednesday that Israel took action to protect its citizens. Furthermore, Mr Deane outrageously claims that Israelis support the “slaughter” of Palestinian children.
The facts are simple. Israel wants peace. It is Hamas, a fundamentalist terror organisation, which continues to engage in a double war crime – targeting Israeli civilians while hiding behind a Palestinian human shield of women and children. We long for the day Israeli citizens no longer have to hear the wail of a siren that means they have 15 seconds to seek shelter before a rocket from Gaza hits their creche, home, school or office. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The report of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs in occupied Palestinian Territory (November 6th) notes the following casualties in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli Defence Forces: 71 killed and 291 injured in 2012 and 108 killed and 468 injured in 2011. This gives a weekly average of Gazans killed and injured of seven and 31 respectively over the last two years.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) documents 11 attacks launched by the IDF against Palestinian fishermen in October 2012 alone.
The current onslaught is an escalation of constant killing and harassment of Gazan citizens by the Israeli state. It began this time with the killing of a mentally unstable Palestinian man near the border and then the killing of a 12-year-old boy while playing football.
Given these statistics and the horrific, punishing nature of the never-ending blockade of Gaza, what is remarkable about the current escalation, purely manufactured by Israel for internal electoral reasons, is the resilience and restraint shown by the Gazan people and its elected government. – Yours, etc,