Editor,
This is in response to Donald Gluck's letter in Thursday's Daily Lobo wherein he states, "Israel does not believe in collective guilt, nor does she practice collective punishments."
Um, sorry to burst your bubble, but the crimes that Israel is committing against the Palestinian people are condemned by the international community as "collective punishment."
It is also considered a war crime according to the Geneva Conventions, which states, "Collective punishment is the punishment of a group of people as a result of the behavior of one or more individuals or groups. The punished group may often have no direct association with the other individuals or groups, or direct control over their actions. In times of war and armed conflict, collective punishment has resulted in atrocities, and is a violation of the laws of war and the Geneva Conventions. Historically, occupying powers have used collective punishment to retaliate against and deter attacks on their forces by resistance movements (e.g. by destroying whole villages where attacks have taken place)."
Clearly, collective punishment is the acknowledged policy of the Israeli government and has been so for quite some time. Thus, Israel has violated international law for this crime and many others too numerous to mention for many, many years.
Gluck, just because you say Israel does not believe in collective guilt does not make it so. You can believe whatever you want, but you've got to supply something more than your ill-informed and biased opinion if you are going to make blanket statements contrary to the overwhelming opinion of the international community and most right-thinking people. So, please explain how you came to this conclusion, other than your personal belief system.
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The BBC reported: "The Gaza Strip has been under an almost total blockade since Hamas ousted Fatah forces in Gaza last June. On Wednesday, Israel's supreme court upheld the cabinet's decision to reduce fuel and electricity supplies to Gaza in response to continued Palestinian militant rocket fire into Israel."
This is called collective punishment to most rational people.
Jason Darensburg
UNM student
