Editor:
Re: Collective punishment and human rights violations (HRVs).
All HRVs are HRVs but are not necessarily apartheid.
The use of the apartheid label in discussing the Israel/Palestine situation is an example of the laziest form of propaganda (similar to equating Stephen Harper to Adolph Hitler). It is therefore, almost by definition, necessarily seen as “ludicrous” by the objective, intelligent mind (Desmond Tutu’s opinion notwithstanding), thereby severely limiting the appeal of BDS.
Ten words are added to the English language every day. Perhaps the Palestinians, the BDS crowd, and local writers Roger Lagassé and Anne Miles can knock their heads together to coin a new label for the situation. More people might then listen to the message.
I did not submit this letter using tree bark and creek clay (thereby avoiding environmental violation). Instead I employed a computer network infrastructure which relies on myriad technologies that are at their root all depending on a sub-economy that continuously violates human rights. Just because you don’t see it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Complaining about Israel from afar is too easy. Best to look in the mirror.
The sad unfortunate truth of human history is that to the victor belong the spoils. The losers get nothing, or if lucky, lemons. Isn’t that why we non-natives live on the Sunshine Coast free from fear of reprisal from whoever was here 150 years ago? Palestinians have wasted too much time with ineffective corrupt leadership, acting as Iranian and Syrian patsies, fighting a losing battle against the only democratic effort in the region. History shows that victors are rarely so patient or tolerant. The Palestinians would have been far, far better off today if they had spent less time raising a generation of radicals, rocket makers and suicide bombers, and more time making lemonade.
Alan Donenfeld, Gibsons
