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October 4, 2008

Letter: Columnist failed to consider Palestinians' plight

To the editor:

While I respect columnist Charles Haynes' good intentions in trying to promote a better human-rights record in post-9/11 America ("Freedom under fire: Israel and the lessons of 9/11," Viewpoint, Sept. 18), I must take issue with his use of Israel as a model.

He should step across the border, less than a mile away from Sderot, into heavily populated Gaza, to get an even more powerful example of "resilience" and "grit."

Israeli air-strikes with state-of-the-art weaponry have killed and injured hundreds more Palestinians than Palestinian rockets have killed or injured Israelis. The material devastation Gazans have incurred is beyond comparison. Is this not terrorism, too?

Bomb shelters, I might add, are a luxury in Gaza. So are food, clean water, and electricity, due to the Israeli freeze of Palestinian assets. All economic roads to Palestine, you see, go through Israel. Gazan and West Bank residents are suffering terribly as Israel daily usurps Palestinian human rights.

Haynes puts blame for all of Sderot's misery on Palestinians. This is neither fair nor factual. The Israeli government plays a huge role.

Don't get me wrong, the violence on both sides is abhorrent; but Americans must know all the facts, not selected ones. We must find a way to get beyond the blindly pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian rhetoric.

As Haynes correctly states, dissension about Israeli policies is more possible in Israel than in the United States; but, actually, it is possible almost anywhere but here. An American politician, for example, who dares to publicly criticize Israeli policies, is committing political suicide. This is not right.

Mr. Haynes is also correct about the numerous human rights groups that exist in Israel. They know the history of Israel's creation at the expense of the indigenous Palestinians and are dedicated to finding a just and final peace with them.

We Americans should take their lead so the people of all Israeli and Palestinian towns like Sderot can finally have a chance of a normal life.

Elaine Washburn Shiber

Member, Amnesty International

Van Lear, Ky.

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