Victor Gordon to The City Press

AN OPEN LETTER TO NATASHA JOSEPH

Victor Gordon

 

Dear Ms. Joseph,

Although I don’t agree with a number of your observations, I understand your dilemma.  In fact it’s hard to be Jewish and not carry the burden of dilemma in some form or fashion.  It’s in the DNA –  a product of Jewish psyche which underpins our view of both our very existence as well as our place in the world.  Simply, it revolves around the nagging question –  “Where do we fit in?”

I empathise with the contradictions and humiliation you suffered growing up in a Jewish society that questioned your “ Jewishness” and sometimes appeared to find it wanting.  Yet it is that which more than anything, explains a great deal about us as a people and how deeply self doubt has become ingrained within our conscience. Your personal experiences growing up in a Jewish society with a half-Jewish heritage says a great deal more about our shortcomings and insecurities than yours, despite yours having to suffer the indignity of being  put to the test.

Anything other than a total identification with “things Jewish” appear to create uncertainty and fear within Hebrew hearts. To continually and repeatedly witness undisguised and growing hostility directed towards Israel and local Jewish institutions which represent the greater part of South African Jewish society (but obviously not all), has alienated  those of us who, for so many years, have  established a comfortable allegiance to this country.  Steadily, many of us within our community have become aware of  an age-old,  disquieting unease that we, as Jews, are increasingly outside the ethnic circle of general acceptance.  We have increasingly become “the other”.

The possibility that a dilution of our “Jewishness” could bring forth a positive and friendly reaction has become progressively remote, encouraging  an instinctive reaction of doubt in our ability to believe in ourselves in the face of harsh scrutiny and criticism.  This is made worse when it originates from members of our own tribe whom one would expect , in all sensibility, to be relied upon to bolster our  ranks and not attack from within.

However, while I agree, Ms. Joseph that healthy debate about “stuff Jewish” is a pre-requisite for dialogue and understanding,  I feel you miss the point when you expect this to inspire ‘debate’ that is no longer that – debate that becomes stifled by the need to push agendas that are far removed from logic and reality.

You write, “We value debate, we say, but we dismiss Jews like Zapiro and Ronnie Kasrils as traitors because they express views that stand outside the “community” norms.”

What then are these “community norms”?  What is it that binds the greater part of this South African Jewish community to adopt a pro-Zionist stance that is as instinctive and reactionary as an Afrikaner of old voting Nationalist or an ANC member placing his cross beside the face of Zuma? Is the emotion any different or the bond of loyalty any stronger … or can it be that deep within our consciousness there is the uneasy recognition that even in this age of super enlightenment we are as much under threat as we have ever been in the past?

Perhaps this could be dismissed as traditional Jewish paranoia – the fodder that feeds our almost maniacal  insecurities;  a self-induced irrational rationality that will forever reduce us to a status of victimhood which, in itself, will only give us reason to construct our “laager” higher, deeper, stronger.

Yet, I contend that this inbred fear is not as irrational as it would appear and that the public utterances of powerful local leaders and spokespersons, designed to question  the commitment of the larger South African Jewish population to the welfare of the Jewish state in the most crude and cynical manner, has left many local Jews questioning whether they are still regarded and accepted in the same light as any other ethnic grouping that constitutes our national tapestry.

So, to get to Zapiro and Ronnie Kasrils (mentioned by yourself), their  problem is not that they express views that stand outside the “community” norms but that they actively promote anti-Jewish sentiment amongst the general public through their statements (in the case of Kasrils) and cartoons (Zapiro).  They  are not alone – there are others as you are well aware.

Were these fair and accurate reflections of a certain truth,  no problem would exist.  Were they in line with constructive commentary, again, they would tie in well with your claim that “you cannot stand hypocrisy”.  However, it is hypocritical indeed to say no word when Mr. Kasrils openly declares that Israel is an apartheid state when faced with the sheer logic of this not being true in any manner or form – when one only has to ask oneself how a country rated as “Free and democratic” (by the well respected monitoring body, “Freedom House” ,  an independent watchdog organization established in 1941 and dedicated to the expansion of freedom around the world),  can exist side-by-side with a policy of apartheid?  The two systems are anathema and cannot possibly co-exist.  This is not a difference of opinion, Ms. Joseph, it is an outright lie!

As for Zapiro, I attach a collection of his cartoons under separate email , shocking in the extreme,  that have been aimed against both Israel, its armed forces and its leaders, many of which could have found comfortable accommodation within the pages of Der Sturmer, the weekly Nazi tabloid produced by Julius Streicher.

These are not merely “contrary opinions”. They are carefully constructed strategies to undermine Israel’s credibility and place question marks over her very right to exist as any other nation on the face of the earth.  They do nothing to advance constructive debate but much to destroy the already fragile fabric of trust and confidence on which local Jews depend in order to provide them with the peace of mind to live their lives devoid of fear for themselves and their children.

I personally regard the two gentlemen mention as “useful idiots” in allowing themselves to serve as pawns by pro-Palestinian organizations who would not give them the time of day were they not willing bearers  of their cause. I can only hope, Ms. Joseph, that you will not permit yourself to become one of them.

Victor Gordon

Monessa Shapiro to The Daily Maverick

As an MA student Nina Butler is doing well and learning fast.  She is
> clever.  She has learnt that it doesn¹t matter what you say.  It does not
> even matter if what you are saying does not make sense.  As long as you
> pepper all that you say with emotive, catch phrases, phrases that will evoke
> anger and sympathy, phrases that paint pictures of evil alongside deep
> unrequited suffering, then as a journalist you will succeed.
>
> I was not blessed with your ability to invert situations Miss Butler.  My
> lecturers taught me that the first requirement for truly good journalism is
> integrity.  Look at facts, put them into context and then present them with
> balance. That is what I shall attempt to do.
>
> You talk of Hebron being the capital of “ugly” and you talk of the “vulgar
> Israeli settler community.”  A little research will tell you that Hebron is
> one of the 4 holy cities of Judaism, that our patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and
> Jacob are buried in the Cave of Machpelah which is situated in Hebron. You
> will learn further that Jews always lived in Hebron, even during the 2000
> year exile.  In fact they lived in Hebron until the 1929 Hebron massacre,
> when their Arab neighbours murdered the majority of them forcing the
> remaining few to flee.  You must know that in 1948 Hebron, together with the
> rest of Judea and Samaria fell to Jordan who occupied it until 1967.  For
> those 19 years no Jew was allowed to set foot in Hebron, not even to pray at
> the Cave of Machpelah, one of the holiest sites of Judaism.  But quite
> obviously from your remarks and insinuations you must agree with this
> policy.  Today a handful of Jews live in Hebron. You do not even find it
> tragic that soldiers are needed to protect them from their Arab neighbours.
> Answer me, even presuming Hebron were to become part of a future Palestinian
> state, why should Jews not be entitled to live there safely and securely, as
> Arabs live in Israel?  Why do you feel that by living there they are
> “vulgar?”
>
> Do you truly believe that checkpoints are merely as a result of “defensive
> paranoia?”  Do you know that until Oslo in 1993 these checkpoints did not
> exist? Jews and Arabs  traveled freely between the West Bank and Israel ­
> they worked together and they shopped together. It was only the increase in
> terrorism, after the return of the PLO to the West Bank and the start of the
> peace process, that forced Israel to set up these barriers in order to
> protect its citizens (Jews and Arabs alike) from murderers intent on
> murdering as many men, women and children as possible.  You talk of the
> “morgue” as being the final destination of the young Palestinian boys and
> girls.  A quick perusal of the Internet will give you varied figures for the
> number of Palestinians who have died since 2000.  In the worst-case scenario
> less than a quarter the number of Syrians killed in the last 18 months have
> died in the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the vast majority of these were
> combatants. And yet you have the gall to suggest that most of the young
> Palestinian protesters end up dead as a result of the behaviour of the
> Israeli soldiers.  How preposterously wicked!
>
> Miss Butler, the Israel-Palestine conflict is complex.  Hate-filled,
> offensive language, lies and distortions are added fuel for an already
> volatile situation. They will not help find the illusive peace we all crave,
> in fact all they do is incite further violence and aid those who want to see
> only death and destruction in the region. When you write fiction and poetry
> you have the liberty of poetic licence but when you take on the
> responsibility of journalism, you must state the truth.
>

Rolene Marks to Politicsweb

Mr Isacowitz seems to be battling a bout of amnesia. In his haste to accuse Israel of moral turpitude and lay blame squarely at the foot of Israel, Isacowitz has forgotten the rockets and mortars that have been launched periodically culminating in the recent Operation Pillar of Defence. I understand that Israel makes for a seductive whipping post given the fact that we have an army to defend us but he seems to have forgotten that 12 years and over 12 000 rockets fired from Gaza have ensured that we are very aware of the Palestinians in Gaza.

 

Izacowitz seems to have forgotten that a mere seven years ago, Israel uprooted entire communities from Gaza, including our dead, and received a barrage of rockets in return forcing us to respond with Operation Cast Lead.Israel has stated time and again that we have no desire to govern the Palestinians in Gaza but in order to protect our safety and prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza, Israel has tightened border controls. You may think we exaggerate but the citizens of southern Israel who have lived their lives in fifteen second increments beg to differ. You are well aware that the fifteen seconds I am referring to is the time it takes to run to the shelter. Last week we experienced the sequel and for the first time since the Gulf War, Tel Aviv took a direct hit and so did Jerusalem for the first time since 1970. I live in Modiin, well within the range of Fajr 5 rockets so while I was sitting in my coffee house or home I was on alert that my Gazan neighbours were alerting me to their existence. I only had a minute to run to my shelter. All this while continuing to provide Gaza with humanitarian aid and evacuating citizens to Israeli hospitals where they were treated free of charge. Please tell me which other country does this.

 

Granted, the people of Gaza do not welcome the violence invited upon them by their rulers. Hamas and other fundamentalist Iranian proxies like Islamic Jihad pursue their “resistance” by committing the double war crime of firing upon our civilian population from within the confines of their own civilian population. To ignore this would not only suggests amnesia but myopia. Hamas are also not too fond of ensuring the inalienable rights of their citizens such as the freedom of religion, expression or women’s rights but it is so much easier to blame it on “those Zionists”.

 

Ah the dreaded “Z” word – the one that intimates that Jews are allowed to organise themselves along political and ethnic lines. Heaven forbid! Last week we experienced a hideous sense of deja vu as once again visuals of mangled buses flooded our televisions and newspapers. Yes, I can see how we deserved that.

 

Nobody is saying that Israel is perfect or without any blame but making the Jewish state the scapegoat and the whipping boy of the failure of peace in the regions smacks of irresponsibility and disdain.

Felicia Levy to The Star

Parents are expected to protect their children; to love them and keep them out of harm’s way. (Children die as adults wage war. The Star November 27 2012 Refers.).

What kind of parent, I wonder, knowingly and deliberately places his child in a position of m or tal danger?  Hamas hides underground amongst its own mothers and children, exploiting them to elicit sympathy when children are harmed while Hamas” militants” remain unscathed. The “disprop or tionate” death toll must be maintained; civilian casualties must outnumber that of “militants”.  What kind of parent votes f or and collab or ates with an or ganisation that promises to abuse and sacrifice his children f or political gain?

What kind of parent hands out candy to his children to celebrate the murder of other children? What kind of parent delights in having his child’s dead body carried around like some kind of trophy to earn the title “martyr”?

 The Hamas “charter” openly and unashamedly demands the annihilation of Israel and the murder of Jews wherever they may be found. Hamas advocates Jihad and indoctrinates children to strive to be “martyrs” by blowing themselves up in or der to murder men, women, children and babies. What kind of parent buys into this?

While Gaza city is densely populated, the Gaza Strip is not. There are kilometres of open space from which Hamas could launch its rockets aimed at murdering Israeli citizens. Yet Hamas deliberately chooses to use its own densely populated cities from which to operate- using schools, hospitals and mosques- thus ensuring maximum civilian casualties in or der to gain w or ld “sympathy”.

The w or ld has been turned upside-down! Sacrificing women and children, the very people who expect to be protected and shielded from harm, is simply evil. Turning a blind eye to Hamas’ abuse and exploitation of its own civilian population is a demonstration of complicity and approval. It is also criminal.

 

Monessa Shapiro to The Star

Civilian deaths are always the tragic consequence of war. It is for this
reason that Operation Pillars of Defence must indeed be seen as a miracle of
modern warfare.

There were 1500 air-strikes into Gaza which resulted in 170 deaths, 120 of
whom were combatants. Thus 50 civilians died as a result of 7 days of
air-strikes.  The most simple of minds must realize that, given Israel¹s
strength and fire-power, coupled with the fact that Gaza is so densely
populated, and that Hamas fires from within the civilian population and does
not provide its civilians with bomb-shelters, this figure of 50 is
incredibly low.  Only in one of every thirty air-strikes did a civilian lose
his or her life.  Surely a world record!  But then of course, as is widely
known, but not mentioned by you, Israel takes enormous pains to protect both
its civilian population and the civilians of the enemy.  Thousands of phone
calls were made and leaflets dropped warning people to leave areas occupied
by Hamas.  In addition Israel used precision firing ­ a quick viewing on You
Tube of the death of Al-Jabari will demonstrate how his car and only his car
was targeted.

Whilst your article in no way reveals any of the above, it is in fact even
more deceptive. It leads the reader to believe that only civilians from Gaza
have suffered as a result of Operation Pillars of Defence.  Prior to
Israel¹s incursion into Gaza its Southern population of 11/2 million people
was the recipient of thousands upon thousands of rockets and missiles fired
from Gaza with the intent of murdering as many men, women and children as
possible.  Schools had to be closed, nights had to be spent huddled,
terrified in bomb shelters.  The trauma of this knows no bounds.

And so the lack of balance and objectivity contained in both your article
and the accompanying visuals reveal a complete dearth in journalistic
integrity. One wonders as to the veracity of the rest of your newspaper.

Don Krausz to The Star

 

Kim Sengupta’s article on the latest war in Gaza headed: “Children die as adults wage war” of

27-11-2012 refers.

The heading sounds balanced enough until one finds that the deliberately timed attacks on Israeli children are described in one sentence of 27 words and that on Gaza children in 670 words. Missiles have been launched at civilian settlements in Israel proper for many years, often up to 80 a day.

It can hardly have been coincidental that the times of launching coincided with the hours when Israeli children leave for or return from school. They are in the streets, not in the school or home shelters.

Two years ago I visited Sderot, one of the civilian settlements in Israel proper. It is within sight of Gaza and was under intermittent rocket bombardment. From launch to impact takes 15 seconds. 15 seconds in which to gather your spouse, children and pets and dive into a shelter. The only custom-built missile proof shelter in Sderot is in the crèche and even so the infants there exhibit signs of fear and trauma as were seen under such conditions in Europe during WW2.

I was nine years old when the Germans laid waste to Rotterdam’s medieval centre and killed 814 of its inhabitants. Our house and business were destroyed. There was no warning given.

Rotterdam was the largest port in the world. First the British and later the American air forces bombed it day and night. No warning was ever given. The only warning Israelis have of the missiles heading their way is the sight of their vapour trails or at night its fire in the sky.

It would appear that only Israel warns civilians in the target areas of their intention to bombard. That would explain why Colonel Richard Kemp, head of British forces in parts of Asia commented that no other army but Israel is as solicitous in minimising civilian casualties in war time.

There are several explanations for the high casualty rates among civilians and children in Gaza as compared with Israeli victims. One is that Israel does not take cover behind civilians during military actions. In the 2008-09 Gazan war an Israeli artillery officer was ordered to open fire on Gazan militants who had taken up position in a building and were firing at Israeli troops. That Israeli officer knew one of the Palestinians living in that building. He phoned that person and warned him to get out.

The Palestinian in turn warned the Hamas fighters. They then forced Palestinian civilians living in the area to gather on the roof of the targeted building, knowing that Israel would refrain from firing on civilians.

During all the Middle East strife Israel has won every battle and lost each propaganda war. Had that not been the case then Israel and its people would no longer exist. The Palestinians know that they are in a win-win situation. They have been placing their missiles, ammunition and launchers in mosques, near schools and in civilian areas. Should they win their attacks, then well and good. If not, then they can always appeal for world sympathy a la Kim Sengupta by showing that victims from Israeli fire have been civilians, children and that the targeted buildings were mosques, hospitals, etc.

Monessa Shapiro to Sunday Independent

Tamer Almassri’s account of Israel’s incursion into Gaza is sadly so predictable.  His unsubstantiated facts, his vitriol and his use of emotive language are all indicative of the deep, unwavering hatred that he and his people feel towards Israel and Israelis, a hatred so deeply embedded that any thought of peace becomes an illusive dream.

 

There is but one point that he as spokesperson for the Palestinians needs to clarify for your readers.  He speaks of there being “65 years of this illegitimate, cruel military occupation.”   It is now 2012.   Sixty- five years takes us back to 1947.  Neither Gaza nor the West Bank (known then as Judea and Samaria) were occupied by Israel in 1947.   In fact much of these areas were allocated in terms of the United Nations partition, for a Palestinian state, but this was refused by the Arabs.  Instead they and all the neighbouring Arab countries waged a war on the fledgling Jewish state in order to drive the Jews into the sea.  In this war Gaza fell to Egypt and Judea and Samaria fell to Jordan who renamed it The West Bank.   Until 1967 these areas were under the occupation of Egypt and Jordan respectively and completely closed to Jews, in spite of the fact that the West Bank is home to some of the most holy Jewish sites.

 

 

So what 65 year occupation is Mr Almassri talking about?  Is he quite openly and unashamedly stating that the whole of Israel is occupied territory?  And herein lies the problem and the reason why there can never be peace.  Jews have lived in Israel (known for centuries as Palestine) for over 3000 years.  In terms of the Balfour Declaration of 1917, ratified and made law by the then League of Nations at the San Remo Conference of 1922, both sides of the Jordan River were to be returned to the Jews for their own sovereign state.  Under pressure the East side of the Jordan became Transjordan and the remaining West side was partitioned in terms of the United Nations partition plan of 1947 into an Arab state and a Jewish state.  Possibly no country in the world has greater legitimacy in law than the Jewish state of Israel.  Yet  this tiny slither of land ,1/10 of 1% the land mass of the Arab world , is denied to the Jews by Mr Almassri and all those he represents.  Thanks for the honesty, sir.

Don Krausz to The Star

RE: YASMIN ALIBHAI-BROWN’S (YAB) article under COMMENT, 21-11-2012.

It very seldom occurs in international events that one side to a dispute is completely innocent and the opposing side viciously guilty. When a correspondent advances that kind of opinion it is usually proof that he or she is biased and his or her argument suspect.

The article shows that YAB has done her homework and yet there is not one word of criticism of Palestinian actions during the past century. I am not referring to the pogroms. I am influenced by the assault launched by the Palestinians and the well-equipped armies of their Arab neighbours on Israel in 1948 one day after the State was declared. My article does not include the major conflicts that followed.

6,000 Israeli men, women and youths died in that totally unprovoked battle for survival, equivalent to South Africa losing 500,000 of its citizens on the battle field.

When the belligerent Arab states found that their armies could not prevail against Israel’s citizen army, they took revenge by expropriating and expelling their 800,000 Jewish citizens, many of whom had lived in those lands for 2,500 years.

The majority of those refugees fled to Israel, the only Jewish country. There they were rehabilitated and totally absorbed. That was 64 years ago. Their Moslem cousins are still living in refugee camps and on UN largesse.

YAB  writes of the Balfour Declaration establishing a Jewish homeland and avers that the land allocated was Palestinian. There was no Palestinian land. The land selected had been Syrian and part of the Ottoman Empire for 400 years until assigned to Britain under a Mandate.

She states that thousands of Muslim and Christian Palestinians were dispossessed. In 1947 the British Peel commission recommended partition between Jews and Palestinians. The Jews accepted the greatly reduced portion of what they had originally been allocated under the Balfour Declaration and which consisted largely of the Negev desert. The Palestinians wanted it all and attacked.

At that time Azzam Pasha was the secretary of the Arab League. On the eve of the Arab attack he announced: “This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre, which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades.” In order not to get caught up in the slaughter the resident Palestinians were advised to abandon their houses and villages and seek shelter elsewhere. Some were displaced in the fighting. Having proved their enmity in a bloody war, the refugee Palestinians were not permitted to return to their erstwhile homes and that is how the Palestinian refugee problem arose.

She reverts to the Balfour Declaration and its cautionary clause protecting the non-Jews. Have you ever heard any pro-Palestinian remind us of Azzam Pasha’s threat?

She compares Assad’s genocide to Israel’s actions. Assad stands accused of so far having slaughtered about 40,000 of his own people. How many Israelis has Netanyahu killed?

Israel in the lady’s opinion is a nuclear-armed bully state. Can she name one state that has been threatened with “being wiped off the map” by Israel?

That brings us back to her assertion that Israel flouts international law with impunity. Allow me to refer her to an open letter written by Uri Lubrani, coordinator of Israeli activities in Lebanon, addressed to Lebanon’s foreign minister Faris Buwayz and published on February 27, 1998 in the Paris newspaper al Watan al-‘Arabi:

“Since no mandatory UN Resolution exists pertaining to the Arab-Israeli conflict, we are left with the San Remo Conference decision that governs land ownership in Palestine. That means that not a single enforceable internationally valid document exists that prevents or prohibits the Jews from settling anywhere in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and all the rest of Eretz Yisrael. Or, to put it differently, from the standpoint of international law FOR THE JEWS IT IS NOT AN OCCUPIED LAND.”

Don Krausz to Sunday Argus

RE: YOUR CARTOONS ON GAZA

Have you or your cartoonist ever heard of the Blitz on England during WW2? The Luftwaffe killed about 51,000 English civilians and Churchill vowed that he would return every bomb tenfold. German cities were destroyed, 200,000 Germans killed and 6,000.000 rendered homeless. Totally disproportionate, don’t you think? The Nazi minister for Propaganda, Goebbles, described the Allied air raids as Terror Angriffe, terror attacks.

Judging from your cartoons you would totally agree with Goebbles and sympathise with the Nazis.

Hamas fires 700 plus missiles into Israel. Then Israel retaliates. The score so far is three Israelis and 65 Palestinians killed. Last time that Hamas tried this, the score was 13 Israeli and an estimated 1,400 Palestinian dead. Disgraceful, disproportionate, shocking, inhuman! That is not cricket!

And what would your reaction have been had those casualty figures been reversed? Would that have been proportionate in your unbiased opinion?

Victor Gordon to Cape Times

I have read enough Yasmin Alibhai-Brown’s diatribes on Israel/Palestine to know her journalistic technique – toss up some contrived  “facts” and hope that your reputation makes them stick. “Palestinians are paying for Europe’s concentration camps” (20/11/2012) is no different.

Losing no time, her very first paragraph states, “Rockets fired in retaliation (to the assassination of Ahmed al-Jabril) killed three Israelis and Israel then went into overkill”, the implication being that Hamas had not fired a single rocket at Israel until prompted to in reaction to the assassination. In fact, prior to the assassination,  Hamas had fired over  800 rockets into Israel from Gaza in the course of this year alone. (See: “New York Times” Editorial 19/11/2012 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/20/opinion/hamass-illegitimacy.html?emc=eta1)  So much for facts.

Alibhai-Brown then turns her attention to Britain’s apparent folly in “backing a new Jewish state on Palestine territory” in 1917, claiming that Britain had no legal right to do so. One would think that prior to writing her article, Ms. Alibhai-Brown would have done some homework and studied some history.  She would then know that Britain was not coerced into issuing this declaration but identified positively with the aim of the fledgling Zionist movement to re-establishing a homeland for Jews in Palestine after 2000 years of exile.  Prior to that, Jews had lived in the region for 3000 years.

Ms. Alibhai-Brown would  have learned that the acceptance of this claim was further reinforced by the San Remo Conference of world leaders in 1922, followed by its further recognition by the League of Nations in the same year. Finally, it was the inclusion of the Balfour Declaration in the British Mandate over Palestine which gave it international legal standing. This was finally endorsed by the United Nations in 1947 and has never been abrogated.  Israel, to this day, holds legal title over the region of Palestine whether Alibhai-Brown likes it or not.

Focusing on the second paragraph of the Balfour Declaration which states that “Nothing will be done which may prejudice the religious and civil rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”,  she misses the point that nothing was done to prejudice these rights which applied to all ethnic groups residing in the region and not only to Arabs.  Those ethnic groups who chose to live in peace within Israel have suffered no prejudice to their civil and religious rights” and in most cases are far better off than those who chose to leave the Jewish state and oppose Israel’s right to exist through violent means.

How does Alibhai-Brown conclude that “apologists for Israel” (read Jews) have no sympathy             for “ dead Palestinian babies and their howling parents?”  The insinuation is slanderous in the extreme. I have yet to see a Jew dancing in the streets and handing out sweets at the news that a Palestinian family had been murdered in their beds, as were the Fogel family in the town of Itamar. Neither do Jews name stadiums and football teams after suicide murderers. Palestinian jubilation at the news of 9/11 is well documented.

For Ms. Brown to mention Israel and President Bashar al-Assad in the same breath displays the shallowness of her reasoning. How she can suggest any form of moral equivalence within this comparison is undeserving of further response.

Israel has yet to attack one of its neighbours without provocation.  Alihbai-Brown knows as well as anyone that this current impasse was triggered by the unending, indiscriminate and unacceptable targeting of Israeli civilians. She also knows that no other country in the civilized world would tolerate such an act. Why should Israel?