Letter: Israel’s fate will eventually be decided

A recent lengthy opinion on the Gaza conflict pins the entire blame for this colossal loss of life and property on the victims.

• An effective strategy to excite and anger the reader.

• Accuracy is secondary to delivering the message.

• From this perspective, Palestinians and Arabs are all the same and share the single goal of throwing the Jews into the sea. A more objective observer might come to a different conclusion. For example, having an internationally supervised port would seem to be a legitimate and reasonable request. Lifting the now eight-year blockade and allowing the export and import of goods could result in a surprising change. The Gaza Strip is populated by human beings who want to live as human beings.

Inmates in jails or prisoner-of-war camps dig tunnels to escape. Without barbed wire and armed guards, there would be no need for them. The death and destruction resulting from the recent bombardment of the strip far exceeds the damage to homes, factories and farms of Operation Cast Lead in 2008. Collective punishment for individual misdeeds was the choice of punishment of the pre-war European dictatorships. Three recent homicides in the West Bank triggered night raids and arrests of perhaps 500 people not even remotely connected to these crimes. Liberty and justice for all is a revered dictum in our country. A democratic Israel needs to apply this principle to all its inhabitants living in its boundaries occupied, disputed or whatever terms are appropriate. Two sets of laws based on religious affiliation are odious and must be set aside for Israel to maintain respect from others.

The last chapter of Israel, the country, will not be written in our lifetime but it will be written.

Stefan Edlis

Aspen