Wednesday, January 14, 2009
I'm not sure which is worse, Anne Applebaum's cynicism about European leaders' efforts to establish a cease-fire to end the Israeli assault on Gaza or her faux-naivete that the U.S. government is powerless to stop the carnage ["It's a War Process," Jan. 6, op-ed].
Why Ms. Applebaum thinks the efforts of Europeans are "most clearly designed to serve the interests of the diplomats" is beyond me, and she offered no evidence to support this view. Perhaps she can't imagine that these leaders are actually moved by the humanitarian calamity in Gaza. I'm heartened to see these initiatives, but Ms. Applebaum may have forgotten how leaders are supposed to behave after eight years of the Bush administration.
On the other hand, surely Ms. Applebaum must know that Israel is the largest recipient, at over $3 billion a year, of U.S. economic and military aid. Just because the Bush administration and Congress choose to give unqualified support to Israel, no matter its actions, does not mean the U.S. government or Americans are absolved of responsibility for what is done by Israel with our tax dollars.
KEVIN MARTIN
Executive Director
Peace Action
Silver Spring
·
Jimmy Carter evidently believes there is credibility to the claim that the Palestinians in Gaza are being starved (as reported by a U.N. agent), and Mr. Carter iterated the Hamas claim that rocket attacks upon Israel are the only way for Palestinians to "respond to their imprisonment" ["An Unnecessary War," op-ed, Jan. 8].
What Mr. Carter failed to account for is the paradox that while Hamas leaders are unable to provide food or medical supplies to Palestinians in Gaza because of the Israeli blockade, they are able to provide the rockets and the launch infrastructure to continue missile attacks on Israel. The Palestinians of Gaza seem to have achieved modernization in rocket technology, their "imprisonment" notwithstanding.
The plight of the residents of Gaza may well be a result of decisions by Hamas leadership to devote Gaza's resources to the sword rather than the plowshare.
MARTIN B. NASS
Silver Spring
·
Jimmy Carter still doesn't get it. The "preeminent issue" is not, as he said in his op-ed, "opening the crossings into Gaza."
The preeminent, overriding, insurmountable issue is the refusal of Hamas to accept the existence of Israel. That intransigence is its justification for continuing terrorist attacks, the rationale for its hostility toward a Fatah leadership willing to negotiate toward a two-state solution and, in fact, its raison d'etre. It is irrational to imagine "a permanent and comprehensive peace" under such an absolute imperative, and one wonders what President Carter doesn't understand about that.
NEIL D. ISAACS
Colesville
View all comments that have been posted about this article.