Letters to the editor from Canada Palestine Association members addressing Palestine in the news.
By Gary Keenan
Dear editor:
Barbara Hodgson’s excellent letter (More than a Memory, Oct. 8) regarding renowned British Arabist Gertrude Bell brings to mind the fact that the Middle East may well have been spared several decades of violence, death, and destruction if British Prime Minister Lloyd George had heeded her wise words regarding the 1917 Balfour Declaration.
While serving with British intelligence in Cairo, Ms.… Read more
The following letter was sent to Sarah Efron, a freelance journalist, regarding reporting about the “Peace It Together” camp held this summer in Vancouver. The camp brought Israeli and Palestinian teenagers to Vancouver from the Middle East and received alot of attention in the local media as a step towards reconciliation in the region. It was also well received by local Zionists.… Read more
By Gary Keenan
Letters editor, The Vancouver Sun
Dear editor:
Re: Guest Editorial, “In the global war, Islam isn’t the enemy; Islamism is,” Sept. 3.
The Ottawa Citizen guest editorial’s contention that al-Qaida hates the U.S. “because of what it is – namely, a capitalist democracy that embraces religious freedom, women’s rights and MTV” rather than “because of its foreign policy” was rejected by the U.S.… Read more
By Hanna Kawas
Dear Mr. Holota:
In an editorial on April 23, 2003 in the Surrey/North Delta Leader, under the title ‘What didn’t happen’, you wrote: “Well, there it is then. Nothing left to do in Iraq but rebuild the country, unify diametrically opposed sects of Muslims, create a democracy instead of a fundamentalist theocracy, convince the Kurds they don’t want their own country, convince Syria to show Hezbollah the door, and make peace between Israel and Palestine.”… Read more
By Gary Keenan
Dear editor,
Kudos to columnist Brian Peterson for his insightful and much needed column regarding Israel’s construction of an apartheid fence or wall around the occupied Palestinian West Bank.
Apart from inspiring increased armed resistance, including terrorism, by illegally encroaching on more Palestinian land and water resources, the fence also demonstrates the utter bankruptcy of Zionism.
It is now 107 years since Theodor Herzl et al.… Read more
By Gary Keenan, published in the Vancouver Sun, Tuesday, September 23, 2003 in reply to “Forget about peace until Arafat and Sharon are out of the way, Norman Spector, September 19th, 2003.”
Arafat’s fate should rest in Palestinian hands
Columnist Norman Spector neglected to mention the extremely important fact that Yasser Arafat is the democratically elected leader of Palestinians in the occupied territories.… Read more
By Gary Keenan, in reply to the Calgary Sun article “Realities of Israeli oppression rarely aired in North America”
Kudos to Bill Kaufmann for his insightful commentary on Israel’s brutal occupation of Palestinian lands. (“Realities of Israeli oppression rarely aired in North America,” Sept. 1.) Kaufmann’s reference to the fact those who criticize Israel’s policies are frequently and unjustly accused of being anti- Semitic by Israel’s supporters brings to mind the wise words of Uri Avnery, renowned Jewish Israeli journalist and former member of the Knesset:
“The Sharon government is a giant laboratory for the growing of the anti-Semitism virus.… Read more
By Gary Keenan. The following letter was published in Vancouver’s Georgia Straight, in the May 30-June 5 2003 issue, in reply to “Letter to editor from Cam Small”, May 22-29 2003
Dear editor:
Of the many reliable sources that refute Cam Small’s assertion that “there has never been any evidence to suggest that [Palestinian] noncombatants are being targeted [by Israeli soldiers]”, I quote from an article by Chris Hedges (former bureau chief for the Dallas Morning News in Jerusalem and Middle East bureau chief for the New York Times), who witnessed children being shot and killed by Israeli soldiers in the occupied Gaza Strip: “Children have been shot in other conflicts I have covered…but I have never before watched soldiers entice children like mice into a trap and murder them for sport.”… Read more
By Hanna Kawas (in response to Elias Tuma)*
We are witnessing a calculated campaign of highly publicized attacks on the Palestinian Right of Return (ROR), aimed at confusing, demoralizing, terrorizing (physically and politically) and frustrating the Palestinian refugees and people with the sole purpose of forcing them to abrogate this right. It started with the Camp David “generous offer” and continued with Palestinian advocates such as Sari Nusaybeh, pushing to drop the ROR if Israel met other conditions, as if we are in a Bazaar, and as if what is on the line is vegetables to be traded and not inalienable rights for human beings.… Read more
By Dr. Rafeh Hulays. The following letter was published in Vancouver’s Westender, in the April 24-30, 2003 issue, in response to “Taking issue with ISM activists”, letters published in the Westender (April 17-23, 2003 issue)
Alan Switzer’s venomous criticism of International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activists is a classic example of attacking the messenger. He would actually have us believe that those who put their lives at risk to protect Palestinian civilians victimized daily under Israel’s illegal military occupation are somehow anti-Semitic (an irony considering that Arabs are Semites) and advocates of the “final solution.”… Read more
