Response to Letter of May 28, 2011
Ralph Bernstein (letter Daily May 28) complains my letter of May 25 was replete with ‘errors and distortions’. It is a pity Mr. Bernstein did not bother to elaborate, explain or challenge my assertions. He also makes the preposterous claim that I have remained silent to the appalling behavior of dictatorial Arab regimes. I would suggest Mr. Bernstein read my letters published by the Daily on 5 February (‘US propped up Mubarak’) and May 13 entitled ‘U.S. must embrace real democracy.’
60 years of unwavering support, diverting billions of dollars of US tax money to fund Israel’s massive war machine has brought enormous misery to the Palestinians and encouraged land grabs and unlawful settlements.
Israel’s draconian military decree 101 is being used to stifle peaceful dissent. .Peaceful demonstrators could face a heavy sentence up to 10 years in one of Israel’s prisons. The Guardian of London reported that Israel continues to use overwhelming brute force towards peaceful Palestinian protestors using teargas, stun grenades and live ammunition.
Peter Beinart, in the New York Review of Books, delivered a scathing criticism of AIPAC and other leading American Jewish organizations who have become “intellectual bodyguards for Israeli leaders who threaten the very liberal values they profess to admire.” He stated that “Zionism that emphasizes Jewish victimhood and allows no empathy for Palestinians is losing resonance with younger Jews.”
Blind defense of Israel’s policies is not an act of patriotism but an act of betrayal.
