Editor:
Re: No peace by taking sides, Aug. 12 letters.
Letter-writer Ian Routledge believes the Canadian government should not be taking sides in the Israeli conflict with Hamas.
Need he be reminded that Hamas is a recognized terrorist group by Canada, U.S., E.U. and many other nations?
Part of the responsibilities of liberal democracies like Canada is to support other liberal democracies, as we also do for the Ukraine.
With all the current conflicts, we have seen the carnage from Hamas, ISIS, Putin and others; surely siding with freedom and democracy over tyranny and dictators is the right choice.
Steven Feldman, Surrey
…
Perhaps I can help Ian Routledge with his “conundrum” in understanding Canada’s support of Israel over Hamas in the current Gaza conflict.
Israel is a vibrant, modern Western-style democracy with a superb, technologically-advanced economy.
Hamas is a murderous, medieval terrorist mob whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel and the extermination of all Jews.
These facts alone justify Canada’s full support of Israel.
There is no equivalency between the two entities.
Israel is a recognized independent state defending its civilians. Hamas is a group of religious savages who deliberately place non-combatants in the line of fire.
There can be no negotiations with barbarians like Hamas – or Hezbollah or ISIS and so on.
As for vote-getting, Routledge has things totally reversed.
Muslim-Canadians, who could be considered probable supporters of Hamas, far outnumber Jewish-Canadians.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, if angling for votes, has the wrong pond.
Francis Patrick Jordan, White Rock
…
Of course Ian Routledge of White Rock is right and impartial when he advises not to take sides in the Hamas/Israel conflict, and the killing must be stopped.
However, I’ve had reason to do quite a bit of research going back to the diaspora after the Babylonian exile of the Jews into the far reaches of the world.
They spread and prospered in being birds of a feather that stuck together.
There was much resentment of their business successes in many countries, and after the slaughter of some six million Jews before and during the last world war, the United Nations decided in 1948 that it was time they were reinstated in their own Israel.
A rather small piece of land for the now tremendous surge in Jewish population.
I am not Jewish, or even a particular supporter of the Jews, but Hamas began and is a terrorist group that has a history of despicable behavior. They are not elected and insert themselves as the Palestinian champion by using their innocent population as a shield against reprisal from Israel.
Donald C. Chivers, White Rock