Web Letters: The View From Tel Aviv

Just to set the record straight, the US was largely behind the civil war between Hamas and Fatah. Of course, they meant for Fatah to win. This has been known all along, but the most detailed account was in the April 2008 Vanity Fair, which you can find online.

Donald Johnson

Yonkers, NY

The blockade of Gaza has resulted in the gratuitous suffering and death of scores of Palestinians, whose lives were snuffed out due to lack of medical supplies or attention on account of lack of fuel supplies, or gratuitously long checkpoint waits, lack of proper sanitation of the water supplies, etc. Moreover, the number of innocent civilians slaughtered by the systematic dropping of cluster bombs on civilians areas by the Israeli military in both Lebanon and Gaza overwhelms by scores the numbers of Israelis lost to random suicide bombings. The Israelis and their sympathizers apparently find moral principles and outrage only applicable to Israelis, not to any other national body. Considering the number of civilian Palestinian and Lebanese casualties effected either directly or indirectly through the deliberate policies or military actions of the Israelis, the suicide bombings of Hamas or Hezbollah can justifiably be ruled as self-defense against a brutal and inexplicably inhumane foe.

After years of my defending Israel, its genocidal indifference to human dignity and life as manifested in its gratuitous and vicious invasions of Gaza and Lebanon have chilled any respect and regard for it. May the US cease its economic, diplomatic and military support for Israel and its terrorism, and rather cast it as a state supporter thereof, for the hands of all of us as US citizens are tainted with the blood of the Palestinians and Lebanese for our support of Israel even if by proxy and our continuing party thereto only increases our national culpability and shame and liability to just retribution for Israel's crimes against humanity.

andrew magni

Boston , MA

Even with a detailed view of the electoral machinations underpinning Israel's rampage in Gaza presented in front of me, I still cannot come to grips with the deep evil of the Israeli action. In domestic American politics, the most violent actions intended to swing head-of-state elections in recent history were limited to Bill Clinton's cruise missile and limited bombing forays. Those were bad (extinguishing human life for the sake of a poll bounce), but what the Israeli "regime" is engaging in--wholesale war crimes and crimes against humanity for the purposes of swinging an election--is simply incomprehensible.

Seymour Friendly

Seattle, WA

All excellent arguments to support blowing the inhabitants of Gaza to kingdom come. One small flaw, actually two. One: Israel has been starving the people in Gaza for months with blockades; and two: the more innocent kids and women you blow away, you create several more centuries of hate and reduce your global status to the level of the United States. You are also pushing the world closer to the brink of nuclear options. A military buddy of mine says that we are already talking of small nuclear bombs. The Israelis use to be world heroes, now you have reduced yourselves to the near level of world thugs. Can you guys re-read the testament, please, or do you skip the Ten Commandments?

JAMES PINETTE

Caribou, ME

In an attempt to find some rational explanation for Israel's seemingly irrational actions, the cynical side of my persona tells me that if taking the lives of 500+ Gazans results in the defeat of Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel's February elections, then perhaps 5,000+ Palestinian deaths have been prevented after the elections.

Lou Arpino

Knoxville, TN

Palestinians send their children into Israeli schools, buses, restaurants, and supermarkets with bombs strapped to their bodies to kill as many innocent men, women and children as they possibly can. After the suicide bomber completes their mission of wanton murder of dozens of people, the Palestinians dance in the streets and pass out candy celebrating.

Palestinians fire hundreds of rockets into Israeli villages and towns trying to murder as many innocent people as possible, and when Israel responds Israel is called the aggressor. The aggressors are the people who have murdered thousands of innocents here on 9/11, in India, Iraq, Israel, England, Spain, Fiji, the Philippines and six different Muslim countries, all in the name of Islam against Jews and Christians. The aggressor is not the nation of Israel, a country the size of New Jersey. It is the Palestinians and Muslims who teach their children, from the time they are born, to hate Jews and Christians.

Have people forgotten that Israel withdrew every settler and every soldier from Gaza three years ago? What did they get in return? Six thousand rockets fired at their civilians the past three years. Let a terrorist group take over Canada or Mexico and begin firing rockets at American cities and let's see how our government responds. People speak about "proportionality" as though a country has no right to do whatever it can to stop attacks against its own people. Hamas is sworn to the destruction against the State of Israel and Israel has the right to protect its people by any means possible. Period.

Mark Jeffery Koch

Cherry Hill , NJ

I find your subtitle bit strange. Israel was attacked. "Do they have an exit strategy?" There's something wrong with that question.

John D. Froelich

Upper Darby, PA

I have seen estimates that Hamas has between 15,000 to 20,000 fighters available in Gaza. An article in Ha'aretz titled "IDF recommends major, but brief Gaza ground offensive" states that 9,000 reservists had been called up for this operation. If that is all the troops you have to commit, this offensive will fail. It is a basic premise in warfare that any assaulting force should have a three-t0-one numerical advantage. I know you have firepower, but they will be dug in and conducting a defense in depth. There will be a lot of casualties on both sides. Since this is just a "surge," you won't hold any ground or stop any rockets. I think you can get a truce, if you don't target Hamas or the other groups. We have had a truce with North Korea since 1953. A rose by any other name smells as sweet?

Pervis James Casey

Riverside, CA