Published in today’s Australian:-
Johnston not the only one
IT must be an incredible relief for the family of BBC journalist Alan Johnston to have him home in Scotland after his release by kidnappers who had held him for four months in Gaza ("Nightmare is over for BBC hostage’’, 5/7).
Amidst the celebrations, I only hope that the world remembers the plight of another innocent kidnap victim in the region - 20-year-old Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held for 12 months - and the nightmare his family is still enduring.
Galya Kay Woollahra, NSW
Check out some of the mumble brained correspondents who inhabit the on line comments section below the letter and go into automatic pilot with their slanderous bile whenever the words "Israel", "Jew", "Palestine" or "Middle East" appear in the letters section. These people surely exist only to defame Israel with mosdtly fabricated allegations about the Jewish State that would make even a science fiction writer blush heavily.
Ms. Kay responds to these fools with the perfect comeback:-
"The intent of my original letter was to remind people that a 20 year-old Israeli (who, like every other 20 year-old Israeli, was serving mandatory national army service) is languishing, injured, in a dungeon in Gaza while the world celebrates the release of Johnston. To regard Shalit’s solider status as a justification for his kidnapping, the stripping of his basic human rights (to liberty, to medical treatment, etc) - must only come from the most intense hatred of the Jewish state. It is saddening that some can only extend their sympathy to Palestinian or British families, but not to their Israeli counterparts.
It is the ultimate in historical ignorance and misguided hypocrisy to presume, and then downplay the scope of the suffering of innocent Israelis in this conflict.
Such a distorted view forces one to question whether this is truly sympathy for the Palestinian side rather than a chance to demonise the Jewish state and its very existence.
It is also absurd to only bemoan the suffering of Palestinians at the hands of Israelis - and conveniently ignore the horrific suffering of Palestinians at the hands of their Arab 'brothers' since 1948, and to this very day in both Gaza and Lebanon."
Johnston not the only one
IT must be an incredible relief for the family of BBC journalist Alan Johnston to have him home in Scotland after his release by kidnappers who had held him for four months in Gaza ("Nightmare is over for BBC hostage’’, 5/7).
Amidst the celebrations, I only hope that the world remembers the plight of another innocent kidnap victim in the region - 20-year-old Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held for 12 months - and the nightmare his family is still enduring.
Galya Kay Woollahra, NSW
Check out some of the mumble brained correspondents who inhabit the on line comments section below the letter and go into automatic pilot with their slanderous bile whenever the words "Israel", "Jew", "Palestine" or "Middle East" appear in the letters section. These people surely exist only to defame Israel with mosdtly fabricated allegations about the Jewish State that would make even a science fiction writer blush heavily.
Ms. Kay responds to these fools with the perfect comeback:-
"The intent of my original letter was to remind people that a 20 year-old Israeli (who, like every other 20 year-old Israeli, was serving mandatory national army service) is languishing, injured, in a dungeon in Gaza while the world celebrates the release of Johnston. To regard Shalit’s solider status as a justification for his kidnapping, the stripping of his basic human rights (to liberty, to medical treatment, etc) - must only come from the most intense hatred of the Jewish state. It is saddening that some can only extend their sympathy to Palestinian or British families, but not to their Israeli counterparts.
It is the ultimate in historical ignorance and misguided hypocrisy to presume, and then downplay the scope of the suffering of innocent Israelis in this conflict.
Such a distorted view forces one to question whether this is truly sympathy for the Palestinian side rather than a chance to demonise the Jewish state and its very existence.
It is also absurd to only bemoan the suffering of Palestinians at the hands of Israelis - and conveniently ignore the horrific suffering of Palestinians at the hands of their Arab 'brothers' since 1948, and to this very day in both Gaza and Lebanon."
2 comments:
At the other end of the scale this piece of tripe appeared in the Herald Sun:-
Boycott key in Israeli hands
EVIDENTLY Michael Burd (Your Say, July 4) is bewildered that the British have called for a boycott of Israel.
Perhaps if he read Dr Ahmed's letter, published the same day,
he would not be so surprised.
If Israel were to practice humanity and actually demonstrate
"equality, respect and care" towards the millions of innocent
Palestinians living under their brutal occupation, perhaps the
boycott would not be necessary.
Moammar Mashni, Hawthorn
Mashni is involved in a group called "Australians for Palestine". He's lying when he says Israel doesn't care for the "millions of innocent Palestinians..." Israel doesn't seek to harm them at all. It's the thousands of guilty Palestinians who they worry about. The ones who blow themselves up in school busses, malls, cafeterias and who fire rockets at homes, schools and synagogues that really concerns them.
What's more Mashni is being somewhat precious isn't he?
His letter comes on the heels of months of infighting between Palestinian groups bent on committing fratricide. We've seen them throwing their brothers off high rise buildings, shootouts in hospitals, and the Mickey Mouse scandal. There was not a Jew in sight.
And Mashni waffles on about humanity?
Mashni got what was coming. This letter appeared the following day:
Moammar Mashni of Australians for Palestine claims Israel should "practise humanity" towards Palestinians.
In the past month, Palestinians have killed hundreds of Palestinians, thrown handcuffed men off roofs to their deaths, shot 70-year-olds in hospital beds and 14-year-olds in their living rooms, with not a single Israeli in sight.
Meanwhile, Palestinian children's TV used a Mickey Mouse-like character to encourage five-year-olds to die for Allah.
How dare Mashni preach about humanity yet ignore this Islamist barbarism.
Daniel Lewis, Rushcutters Bay, NSW
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