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RFPC’s real agenda?

Dear Editor:Let’s examine just one of several wild allegations in Sue Gray’s July 19 letter (“Understanding terrorism’s causes”). Gray perpetuates the anti-Israel agenda of the Roaring Fork Peace Coalition.Ms. Gray attempts to connect Israel’s policy of bulldozing the homes of terrorists who have participated in terrorist attacks with the suggestion that the homes of the Columbine teen killers should have been bulldozed. The actions of the Columbine killers – however horrific – were not an official policy of a state or local government. This was a wanton act of murder by disturbed teenagers. In contrast, the Palestinian Authority (PA) sanctions and encourages suicide bombings. Terrorism is an instrument of official PA policy, as it is in Syria, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the Sudan. The purpose of terrorism is to gain headlines and draw attention to the perpetrator’s political agenda. If a foreign entity violated the territory of a neighboring nation and killed that nation’s citizens, this would be an outright act of war, according to the U.N. Charter. Were the killings in Columbine an act of war? Gray’s attempt to link Columbine with Palestinian suicide bombings is laughably inappropriate. The bulldozing of houses of the families of suicide terrorists – not “suspected” killers, as asserted by Gray, but actual perpetrators – is one of many effective (albeit unpleasant) methods that have slowed down the number of terrorist actions. Along with targeted killings of the terrorist leadership and the security fence, these defensive actions have contributed to a marked reduction in terrorist killings. A reduced level of conflict benefits Israelis and Palestinians – except those Palestinians who do not want peace.Palestinians are indeed oppressed … but primarily by their leadership, not Israel. In private surveys, Palestinian families express a desire for a cessation of their children being incited to participate in terrorist bombings. Arafat’s intifada brought extreme economic hardship to his people.If the RFPC is so devoted to peace activism, how come we never hear of Gray railing against the abuses against the black Muslims being raped and killed in Darfur by the Arab militias? How come the RFPC ignores the plight of the Tibetans whose land, language and culture are being obliterated by the Chinese? And, why does Gray ignore the continued slavery that is practiced in Saudi Arabia on women workers from Asia and Africa? In aspiring for peace, the RFPC ought to try to seek to understand both sides of a difficult conflict. It should not be appearing to take on the appearance of an impartial third party. However, in examining RFPC’s words and deeds as expressed by its leader, Susan Gray, it chooses one side only and repudiates a balanced perspective. This reveals the hidden agenda of the RFPC. Their single issue is to blast Israel and the Jewish people who support it, no matter how poorly justified or illogical the argument. It is time for the RFPC to stop ignoring historical facts, communicating half truths, drawing false analogies and being a propaganda tool of the apologists of terrorism.David J. KudishChicago