"and now for something completly different....... '
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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/436717p-367957c.html
Give it back
Jersey City: The only way to have peace in the Middle East is to eliminate the country of Israel, return it to its original name of Palestine and give the Palestinians their land back. Israel was created in 1948 after a sympathy vote by the United Nations and has been a thorn in the side of this country and the world ever since.
Danny Archuleta
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http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzOTcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY5NjM1NjgmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNA== Israel is not killing Hezbollah terrorists. Israel is killing Lebanese men, women and children. Israel is destroying a beautiful, defenseless country.
Hezbollah is not ever going to give up. Neither is Israel. Both are never going to heed anybody. The United States can't do a thing about it and should stay out of it.
Bernhard C. F. Klein
Midland Park, July 17
Regarding "Bold actions necessary for Israel's survival" (Opinion, July 17):
The author has tried to justify mass killings conducted by Israeli military in Lebanon and Palestine.
Osama bin Laden had a grudge against the United States. He directed his comrades to punish the country by targeting innocent civilians on Sept. 11, 2001.
I believe Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is following in bin Laden's footsteps by murdering innocent Lebanese and Palestinian civilians.
The United States has again turned a blind eye toward Israeli atrocities. It will perpetuate violence against Western interests in the Muslim world.
Imad Memon
Fort Lee, July 18
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http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060721/OPINION04/607210336/1072 FROM OUR READERS: Who will provide leadership to end the bloodshed?
July 21, 2006
After looking at the heartbreaking photos on Thursday's Other Voices page of the children of war in the Middle East, it is very difficult not to feel overwhelmed with the myopic vision of leaders of mankind throughout the world. That we can call ourselves "human," and yet abuse these children, not to mention sending men and women to war to kill and then come home to deal with the physical and psychological fallout of war, is the antithesis of "human."
It is deeply disturbing that our own government spends time and money endlessly debating small issues when global warming, genocide in other countries and the huge financial drain of war swirl all around us. I yearn for a true leader who will have a large-picture viewpoint and be able to keep it when surrounded with legislative "me first" pettiness.
Caroline Altomare
Dexter
U.S. tax dollars at war
The weapons that are being launched by Israel against civilians in Lebanon and the occupied territories are paid for with U.S. tax dollars. This collective punishment is a violation of moral and international law.
As a taxpaying American, I am deeply remorseful for my complicity in the deaths of so many. As Americans paying for this mess, we have the responsibility of telling our government, "No more!" No more death. No more occupation. No more support for state terrorism.
Too many Lebanese, Palestinian and Israeli children have died. A real commitment on the part of the United States to secure justice for Palestinians would go a long way in bringing peace and security to all in the region.
Kim Redigan
Dearborn Heights
The seeds of more conflict
What the pro-Israel letters writers of July 18 ought to keep in mind as they cheer the Israeli destruction of Lebanon under the guise of fighting terrorism is that killing innocent civilians and destroying their nation's infrastructure only contributes to the radicalization of Palestinian and Lebanese youth. Killing innocent civilians is terrorism, and collective punishment against a people is a violation of the Geneva Conventions. Why does Israel feel that punishing innocent civilians helps secure peace? It hasn't worked in 60 years, and it won't work now.
Sayrah Namaste
East Lansing
Deadly status quo
I question whether the July 18 letter writers are watching the same footage of Israel's destruction that most of us are seeing, because most of us are horrified. What's truly sad about this latest conflict is that the United States has lost credibility in the region under the status quo where Israel can do no wrong. We don't have an ambassador in Syria. Compare this with the policies of George Bush Sr., who engaged all of the major players in the region with efforts resulting in the Madrid Conference. That, after all, is what diplomacy is all about.
Abeer Odeh
Farmington Hills
Nothing is unprovoked
Israeli soldiers were captured and held hostage. A few. Over a thousand Palestinian and Lebanese civilians have been detained or imprisoned, or both, without cause, some of them women and children. At what point do Arab lives matter?
It is easy to blame Palestine, since Israel is the more aggressive, powerful and militarily superior of the two (Palestine has no army). Think not for a moment Israel is the innocent victim. Remember the Palestinian family slaughtered on the Gaza beach June 9, or has that incident already been forgotten? Nothing is unprovoked. Nothing.
Annette Thomas Clarkston
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Perspective on Mideast draws fire from all sides
Makdisi's assessment of Israel's war crimes against Lebanon is tragically correct. The world should hold Israel responsible for every penny it takes to rebuild the cities and infrastructure Lebanon worked so hard to reconstruct. Shame on Israel and on President Bush for giving it the green light to wantonly destroy a nation that cannot defend itself.
SAMIR TWAIR
Past President
Arab American Press Guild
Los Angeles
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/la-le-friday21.2jul21,0,1041936.story?coll=la-news-comment-letters
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http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06202/707421-110.stm
The human tragedy
Having spent the last semester at the American University of Beirut, I am afraid that the Lebanese side of the story has been glossed over. I just heard back from a friend in Beirut, who had this to say:
"It's tough being here in Beirut, where you can hear all the bombs. We're under house arrest and are watching the news 24/7. This summer was supposed to be the best, you know. Hopefully this will all just blow over."
Maybe personalizing this tragedy of collective retribution against the Lebanese is the only way Americans will understand.
BRIAN CONWAY
West Mifflin
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http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=e46355f1-2a98-4711-ac14-205596be5628
United States And Israel Allowed To Abuse PowerTo The Editor Of The Day:
To The Editor Of The Day:
| We are witnessing a shameless hypocrisy being perpetrated under the pretext of spreading democracy and fighting terrorism by the United States and Israel. Israel has engaged in widespread, barbaric aggression and state sponsored terrorism against the fledgling democracies in the Palestinian territories and in Lebanon. The US has used lies and deceit to justify the invasion of a sovereign nation in a preemptive war to impose democracy. The violence in the Middle East is spiraling out of control — Gaza and Lebanon are being systematically reduced to rubble by the radical, Zionist regime in Tel Aviv and Iraq is heading towards a catastrophic civil war. The blame for all the violence has been placed on the so-called “radical, Islamist terrorists.” Ignored is the fact that while a handful of Israeli soldiers have been captured, thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese — among them many innocent women and children — languish in Israeli prisons. Ignored is the fact that more than 100,000 Iraqis have been killed as a result of the U.S. invasion and the country lays in ruins. Why it is that the United States and Israel can abuse power with impunity; usurp the rights and resources of other peoples and nations without accountability; and demand peace and security for them while withholding the justice and liberty of others? Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Arrogance of power has led to the demise of great nations through out history and in the scriptures. Sooner or later, God willing, deterrence will emerge and justice will prevail. That will be the day of reckoning when the weak will claim what is rightfully theirs. This is the time for the United States and Israel to act responsibly and with compassion.  |
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| Imran Ahmed |
| East Lyme |
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/4061815.html Fighting with Hezbollah Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
Israel's hostages
THE situation in Lebanon is a total failure of understanding. Israel is tearing down any chance of peace.
Israel is holding 9,000 hostages (Palestinians and others) who are being held in jails with no rights.
Is this how a democracy is supposed to act?
RONALD BREWER Houston
No, they're victims
REGARDING Kevin Spring's July 20 letter, "They're volunteers," I'd like for him to explain how all the Lebanese people are responsible for harboring terrorists.
Suppose, for example, that a small group of Houstonians, say 10 percent or 20 percent, were harboring terrorists — would that justify bombing the whole city of Houston?
TAMMERA HALPHEN Houston
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http://www.suntimes.com/output/letters/cst-edt-vox21a.html
Irresponsible journalism Why do the media mention that Iran supplied the rockets used by Hezbollah and is responsible for their actions, but do not mention who supplies Israel with weapons and hold them responsible? Could Israel's main supplier of weapons be the United States? That is irresponsible journalism. All who participated should be ashamed.
Leon Moore,
West Garfield Park
Confusion in Lebanon
America is trying hard to get Americans out of Lebanon so that Americans aren't killed by enemy forces who are attacking. Who are these forces from whom Americans are running? Israelis? But I thought Israel was our friend. I'm so confused.
Marc Perkel,
San Francisco
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http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060721/OPINION01/607210333/1031 Dan's lone voice stands out on Israeli situation
I want to thank Dan Carpenter for continuing to represent facts from "the other side" (Expresso, July 16). He is one of the few voices on The Star editorial page staff who can be counted to do this. If more people actually tried to get news from more than one or two corporate news sources, maybe conversations about Israel could be made in more than just terms of Israel is right or Israel is wrong. There is in fact more to the story than Palestinians wanting the annihilation of Israel. Nothing happens in a vacuum, despite what The Star and CNN tell you.
Jon Nolen
Indianapolis
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http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1153386968251590.xml&coll=2 U.S. should adopt Israel
I offer a solution that may be radical to say the least. It makes a lot of sense to me. Let's adopt Israel.
Let's absorb all of Israel into our society. We seem to be doing well in accommodating illegal immigrants. Let's take in a people who truly need a refuge and a home.
Let the evildoer-savages have the "Holy Land." Happiness and salvation are a state of mind - not a place. The Jewish people are welcome here.
Danny Joe Sims
Crestline Heights
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http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/21/EDGOBIPVG61.DTL&hw=letters&sn=001&sc=1000
'Experts' have led us astray again
Editor -- I'm beginning to wonder if we're not being exposed to the same kind of "expert consensus'' as existed before the attack on Iraq. You may remember how confident all the experts were that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Despite the lack of evidence, there was no doubt about it. If you expressed uncertainty, you were told "Everybody knows! . . ." -- meaning all the experts were agreed.
Now we hear that Iran was surely behind Hezbollah's attack on Israel. The experts seem to be agreed again, but where is the evidence? Has anyone yet produced a concrete, verifiable piece of evidence linking Iran to Hezbollah's raid on the Israeli army unit?
The theory seems to be mainly put out by Israel and its American retainers. There's no doubt that Israel regards Iran as a great threat; many of its leaders have said so. Could that have anything to do with their willingness to believe, and persuade others to believe, that Hezbollah is merely a puppet of Iran?
GEORGE HOCHFIELD
Berkeley
Editor -- Thank you for George Bisharat's article in The Chronicle. I am often dismayed by what I believe to be irresponsible and biased coverage of the Middle East by most mainstream American media. It was refreshing to read something that reflects some of the rarely reported on beauty of Lebanon and of so much of the Middle East. Bisharat clearly articulated one of the greatest conflicts for me, and for probably many Lebanese and Arab Americans living in the United States when he wrote, "I hope I can look my Lebanese friends in the eye, and explain to them why my country stood by while theirs was destroyed."
MONA BAROUDI
San Francisco *******************************************************************************************
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/15089959.htm Words on bombs a sign of war's toll
Do you think those messages the little Israeli girls are sending on missiles (Page 3A, July 18) might inadvertently reach another little girl? If not for war, in another world, these three children could be neighbors playing dolls together. Too bad we can't get just get rid of the ``bad guys.'' But as we know, the real victims of war are women, children and the elderly.
Deanna LaTorre
San Jose
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,,1825444,00.html David Grossman injects a much-needed note of realism into the escalating conflict. I have been receiving regular updates over this past week from Baptists in both Lebanon and northern Israel. They hold no truck with Hizbullah, but both groups are agreed that the Israeli response has been grossly disproportionate and is destroying the Lebanon which was so painstakingly rebuilt over the past 15 years.
If it is right that our government is following the US in "allowing" Israel to destroy Hizbullah, then, leaving aside the question of whether this is actually possible, the human price has simply become too high to continue this policy. One-third of the victims on both sides are children. Our Beirut Baptist school, like many others, is overrun with refugees in urgent need of food and medical help. To pursue the policy of "non-intervention" any longer takes our government and that of the US beyond any concept of moral responsibility and begins to make us part of the ongoing tragedy.
Rev Anthony Peck
General secretary, European Baptist Federation
Tariq Ali (Comment, July 20) is worried that Israel's military action in Lebanon may lead to the downfall of the Syrian regime. I think he should rather be hopeful. Since he has spent his entire career berating the west for propping up third world dictatorships, this could be an opportunity to achieve a result at last. Unless Ali believes there are good dictatorships and bad ones?
Malik Ibrahim
Birmingham
Jonathan Freedland seems to suggest (Comment, July 19) that the escalating cycle of violence in the Middle East is inevitable. There is, however, a solution which is possible but - in terms of Western realpolitik - unthinkable: that Israel be required to comply with at least some of the UN resolutions passed (and ignored) over the past few decades. Until the west stops treating Israel as a favoured exception to every rule, the sense of injustice and despair in the region will grow.
Hilary Wise
London
Tony Blair is not alone in locating the origin (and blame) for the current hostilities with the kidnappings of Israeli soldiers. A day before Cpl Shalit was captured, Israeli commandos entered Gaza and abducted two Palestinians, a doctor and his brother, who Israel claims are members of Hamas. Yet in the eyes of the world, Hamas is the aggressor.
Dr Ron Chrisley
Brighton, East Sussex
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http://comment.independent.co.uk/letters/article1188853.ece Sir Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is right. Of course the Israeli government is racist towards Arabs. How else could they operate an apartheid system in the West Bank with a separation barrier, separate roads, separate towns, schools, road blocks, pass laws, curfews, and daily discrimination according to race? The racism is not just from the not-so-moderate government of Olmert but is institutional and embedded within the system.
Only by demanding an immediate ceasefire would we show that we did not share Israel's racist attitudes towards Arabs whether they are Palestinians, Lebanese, Syrians or whether the are Muslim or Christian.
JAMES WILD
LONDON SE4
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http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/20/opinion/edlet.php As the European and American governments are mobilizing to evacuate their citizens from Lebanon, why are no governments making attempts to keep Lebanese citizens and Palestinians in refugee camps safe from Israeli attacks?
How can we all be witness to this devastation of a country guilty of no aggression and not demand that our governments act to stop Israel? Why is Israel pounding Lebanon and not Syria or Iran, whom they hold responsible for supporting Hezbollah?
Reyes Menes, London
I find it ironic that Israel labels itself as the democracy standing up to authoritarian regimes, and yet it is destroying the only other two democracies in the region - Palestine and Lebanon.
Henning Hegland, London
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http://www.ft.com/cms/s/efa758c0-1855-11db-99a6-0000779e2340.html From Mr R.A. Hopkinson-Woolley.
Sir, How does Martin D. Stern (Letters, July 20) suggest that the Lebanese government disarm Hizbollah when Israel has carefully destroyed the means to do that?
Does he remember that during the last Israeli occupation of the land the only organisation really to help the poor and dispossessed was Hizbollah? In these circumstances can the Lebanese government politically risk attacking Hizbollah?
What sort of government would result if it did?
Alexander Hopkinson-Woolley,
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Friday, July 21, 2006
IOF Massacre in Al-Maghazi Refugee Camp, Gaza
Read about Israel's other genocide in the occupied territories:
http://www.umkahlil.blogspot.com/ ************************************************************************************************
Her brother was killed by Israeli occupation troops in Gaza. ***********************************************************************************************
"I want to tell you something very clear,
don't worry about American pressure on Israel,
WE, the Jewish people control America,
and the Americans know it."
Ariel Sharon to Shimon Peres,
October 3rd, 2001,
as reported on Kol Yisrael radio.
http://peace4palestine-housewife4palestine.blogspot.com/2006/07/we-jewish-people-control.html#links
The Truth About Palestine
When a Palestinian turns on the television or flips through a newspaper, he/she always encounter some form of misrepresenation of the Palestinian people. The word "terrorist" is constantly repeated in the media when describing Palestinians. When a Palestinian blows up an Israeli bus, he is labeled as a terrorist, but when an Israeli soldier aims and shoots at the eyes and heads of Palestinian children, he is a soldier defending himself. When six, seven, or even eight Palestinians are killed each day, the story is usually hidden at the end of the newspaper or does not even make the evening news. But when an Israeli dies, it is on every single major television network and all over the newspapers. The media plays a very important role in modern politics because it is responsible for providing information to the public. What people read or watch on television has an enormous influence on how people think and behave. The media's perception and presentation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has caused the public to be misinformed and confused. The public and even some journalists are not aware of the history that exists between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Do the people know of the British betrayal of the Palestinian people after World War I? Do people know what the Sykes-Picot Agreement is, or the significance of the Balfour Declaration? In order for people to understand what is going on between the Palestinians and the Israelis, they need to be accurately informed and have a clear understanding of the history of that region. However, what the viewer sees on television is a thirty second segment of a blown up bus and women and children crying while the anchor explains that this is another, "Palestinian terrorist attack on Israel." Lately, it has been the image of young boys throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers while the reporter is interviewing an Israeli official who accuses Palestinian parents of sending their children to the front line to get sympathy from the world. Regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the media presents the same theme over and over again and portrays Israel as the victim and the Palestinians as the villain and as aggressors. From an Unknown Palestinian posted by Housewife4Palestine at 7:47 AM http://peace4palestine-housewife4palestine.blogspot.com/ ***********************************************************************************************
http://www.al-awda.org/media-speak_up.html Continue to Speak Up
Speak out for real justice and real peace!
Speak out for truth!
We must continue to explain the very real plight of the Palestinian people.
Every voice, every insight, every point, and every fact counts immensely. Even if you have little faith in your ability to communicate, know that any and all of your efforts truly do contribute. Your own unique voice and perspective may just be the one that gets through to editors and readers.
Research and read what your local papers have to say, and write responses. If you have time, read more papers and respond to as much mainstream media as you can. Don't forget to send notes in response to TV coverage, and even radio coverage.
A paper that puts its op-eds and letters on-line has a virtually endless circulation and one little letter can go a long way towards informing many people about what is really going on.
Take careful note of each newspaper's basic rules about letter (or op-ed) length and the importance of timeliness. Every newspaper is different, although all want original and exclusive letters.
Don't expect your letters to be snatched up for publication, but do realize that every letter sent really does help get other letters and op-eds and perhaps even news noticed and maybe even published.
If an editor suspects your letter is what they call astro-turf, a letter generated by a campaign and sent to many newspapers, they may not even read it. Be careful to mention the article you are responding to, and the date.
Concentrate on reminding our newspapers, and even our elected leaders, about the
importance of fully implementing the Palestinian refugees right to return. Scan for any articles, editorials, op-eds and letters that mention the right of return and make it a priority to remind the world that this is an inalienable right enshrined and respected by international law. Don't assume someone else will. You might be the only one who bothers.
Keep writing! Your voice and your viewpoint help more than you can imagine. Collectively, we can make a difference!
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Martin Luther, Jr. King
