Editor,
Jason Darrensburg’s Sept. 5 column, “U.S. needs to stem violence, not support it,” paints a very distorted view of the Israel-Hamas conflict. J.D. accuses Israel of “purposely targeting” U.N. schools and shelters without realizing that Hamas bases its military operations in urban areas, purposely allowing its citizens to be injured and killed in order to score a propaganda victory.
It should also be noted that Israel is not bombing for no reason since Hamas militants have launched over 3,500 long-range missiles in 2014 alone. What else is Israel to do to defend itself? Thus the death of 2,000 Palestinians is clearly the fault of Hamas, not Israel.
J.D. also makes the false claim that “Netanyahu and his supporters simply don’t want peace.” Is he not aware that the Hamas charter calls for the destruction of Israel and the genocide of world Jewry? Talk about not wanting peace.
In contrast, Israel completely left Gaza in 2005, leaving the Palestinians free to build their own independent state there. Instead, the Palestinians in Gaza have used their freedom to wage a continual war against Israel from military centers placed in residential Arab areas, each full of non-combatant citizens.
Concerning the Middle East, has thinking become obsolete?
Mark J. Wilson
