The Israeli Ambassador responds
The Israeli Ambassador has a column in the HoS responding to Matt McCarten.
It is a well timed article about terrorism, as the news is soaking in about how terrorists in Iraq used two mentally handicapped (Down’s Syndrome) women as suicide bombers, killing 91. And this wasn’t an attack on some US military base – but on a crowded pet market. Why would anyone attack a pet market? Well it seems “Sunni fundamentalists consider the selling of pets to be haram — forbidden on religious grounds.”
Anyway back to Israel’s terrorism problems – some extracts:
Would New Zealanders ask their Government to sit idly by while a terrorist organisation fires missiles on the towns of Tauranga or Hamilton? For this is what is being asked of Israelis – to sit idly by while the residents of their southern town of Sderot are fired on by missiles from the terrorist organisation Hamas.
… By stopping the passage of fuel, this slowed production by Gaza’s power station, which supplies only 30 per cent of the total power to the area. Israeli-based power companies continued to supply the remaining 70 per cent of electricity to the region. Of the electricity that was available in the area, Hamas chose to divert it to their weapon producing factories, knowing that ensuing suffering by the people of Gaza would inflame public opinion against Israel.
… Israel continues to allow humanitarian aid; food, medicine and other supplies into Gaza throughout Hamas’ reign. This continues even though border authorities have foiled, in the last two weeks alone, attempts to smuggle under the guise of humanitarian supplies, tonnes of fertiliser for use in making missiles. In any informed debate on the virtue of Israel’s actions, it is imperative to remember that the Israeli Government continues to aid those Gazans who are suffering under the Hamas regime.
The sad thing about Gaza is I want Israel to cede more territory to Palestine, in exchange for a peace deal. But the lesson from Gaza is that giving up territory doesn’t reduce attacks on Israel, it just accelerates them. Does anyone seriously believe that if Israel withdrew to its 1967 borders, that attacks on them would stop? Hamas is sworn to destroying the Jewish state – not just reducing it in size.