To the Editor,
Re: UN report confirms toll on Palestinians, Letters, Feb. 12.
No longer having any confidence in what the United Nations produces, I would have ignored the reference letter as just more pro-Arab/anti-Jewish propaganda.
But then I got to the mendacious paragraph about how Canada “continues to support this ‘illegal’ regime,” etc.
Illegal regime? The modern state of Israel was established as a Jewish homeland in 1948 on land that was at that time part of the British mandated territory of Palestine. The UN, back when it still had credibility, had voted for it in 1947.
Having to repulse attacks by surrounding Arab states in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973 resulted in Israeli occupation, obviously for their own protection, of east Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights.
An agreement for limited Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip was signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1993. Israeli troops and settlers were withdrawn from the Gaza Strip which was then occupied by the extremist group Hezbollah.
Rather than bothering to maintain the infrastructure left by the Israelis, that group proceeded to fire Iranian missiles into Israel, which was put up with for some time before retaliation ensued.
What surprisingly gets overlooked by many, even in this country, is the fact that Jewish history in the Middle East goes back just as far as that of Arabs.
So why shouldn’t they have their own homeland over there? If Palestinian Arabs were really interested in peace, they would recognize Israel’s right to exist.
Then discussions could start on borders for a Palestinian state that currently doesn’t exist.
Jim Corder
Nanaimo
