To the editor: Any writer who laments the devastation in the Gaza Strip without acknowledging its cause is like a person who complains about how horribly he has been mauled by a bear without admitting that the bear was sleeping when they stuck a stick in his eye and slaughtered him. . some of the puppies from him. (“Israel’s strategy in Gaza: creating facts on the ground that cannot be undone”, Opinion, January 2)
What the hell did they think would happen?
Enough complaining. Either you demonstrate your intention to never kill another cub and let the bear live forever in peace in its ancestral land, or you hope to continue reaping the overwhelming consequences of your reckless provocations.
Rick Goldfarb, Sherman Oaks
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To the editor: Tariq Kenney-Shawa is absolutely right that Israel has executed a long-term program to secure its control over historic Palestine.
Israel understands public relations and perseverance; has been doing this for a long time. There are very few examples where their words betray their intentions, but I think when we look at Palestinians and Israelis, we should look more at what they do than what they say.
The contrast between Gaza and the West Bank is stark: Gaza is the sacrificial lamb to protect the West Bank. Gaza became a huge ghetto, imprisoned on all sides, to demonstrate to the world that Israel could not deal with the Palestinians as negotiating partners.
By contrast, Israel will never give up part of the West Bank in exchange for a Palestinian state and is constantly pushing for the Palestinians to simply leave.
Now Gaza is a wasteland and Israel hopes the Palestinians there will disappear into Egypt.
William N. Hoke, Manhattan Beach
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To the editor: If Kenney-Shawa is concerned with the “facts on the ground,” then he must have been aware that Hamas was introducing into Gaza, through a porous blockade, thousands of rockets that were periodically fired at Israel, making it necessary to build bomb shelters in Israeli homes.
He would have known, as Hamas did, that after the October 7 attack, Israel would counterattack with full force. You probably know that before October 7, many Gazans worked and received medical care in Israel. My wife’s cousin repaired his tractors.
Israel would rather help Gazans build their country than live with the constant threat of terrorism from a group dedicated to the maximum destruction and murder of as many Jews as possible.
Steven Feig, Beverly Hills
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To the editor: Thanks to Kenney-Shawa for writing this and The Times for printing it.
The United States is allowing genocide. If you kill people by starving them instead of bombing or gassing them, it is still genocide.
And most Americans have no idea. Well, maybe they will now.
Elizabeth Block, Toronto
