Dangerous support

Letters

Editor: It was an excellent idea to feature Yossi Darr's article "Israel roots out terrorism in Rafah" next to the letter entitled "Israel wrong in Rafah" in your May 28 issue. By documenting how the weapon smuggling tunnels dug under the Egypt-Gaza border led into the houses torn down by the Israel Defence Forces, which then showed humanity by providing medical and other assistance to the Palestinian civilians affected by this regrettably necessary operation, Mr. Darr gives the lie to the gratuitous assertions of the authors of the said letter.

This letter, which calls on foreign affairs minister Bill Graham to lean even more heavily on Israel than he already does, bears the signatures of two leaders of an outfit that calls itself United Jewish People's Order. To support their allegations that by taking measures needed to defend its civilian population against profusely armed terrorists, Israel is violating international law, these gentlemen cite representatives of authorities known for their malice towards Israel, such as the United Nations Human Rights Commission (on which sit such shining exemplars of human morality as Sudan and Syria) and the Irish government. They also quote MK Yossi Sarid, who seeks the moral high ground at the cost of risking national suicide for Israel.

Messrs. Abramowitz and Shek seem to have added yet an other entity that calls itself Jewish to the likes of Jews for a Just Peace and Mordecai Briemberg's Canada Palestine Support Network. It is to say the least regrettable that, at a time when Israel is universally demonized and when as Jews, terribly few as we are in the world, we feel more threatened than we have ever been since the Shoah, there are those in our midst who feel compelled to lend a hand to the jihad mouthpieces of a billion Muslims and their cohorts of the extreme left and the extreme right. They carry their contributions to Israel-defaming meetings on our campuses (even at the cost of desecrating the Shabbat on a Friday night, as happened at University College of the Okanagan in Kelowna) and join in the silencing of Israeli diplomats and intimidation of students and others (including the rare Muslims) who raise their voices in defence of Israel. And, like Messrs. Abramowitz and Shek, they write letters to our politicians, complaining that Canada is not unfriendly enough towards Israel.

In February, a friend of mine picked up on the Internet a letter addressed to "Friends in the Social Justice Community in Greater Victoria," soliciting for help in organizing a meeting with Liberal MP David Anderson to call on our government to cut off diplomatic ties with Israel! How can Jews be so blind to the fate that would befall us all, should, God forbid, the jihadists win?

Rene Goldman
Summerland, B.C.

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