I am writing a response to the Sept. 22, 2003, "'Relative' Death" column by George Zornick. I just wanted to set some facts straight. Yes, there was a hudna (or truce) in Israel towards the end of the summer, and yes, there were killings that went unreported. The hudna was also declared by the Palestinians, who stated that it would not count for settlers or soldiers. Zornick's article fails to mention the reason behind Palestinian killings.
The Israeli army began to notice that while there was "relative" peace, many of their soldiers were being captured. Many of the Palestinian deaths were due to the army trying to locate its missing soldiers. It was a very dangerous time to be in the Israeli army as they were the actual targets. There were also killings made by Palestinians as well. It is not just a one sided issue here. Israeli citizens were killed by Palestinians in random shootings.
In war people die, and when terrorists attack from behind civilians then the army has a choice - either risk the lives of Israeli citizens by doing nothing, or risk the lives of Palestinian civilians, which the terrorists have endangered. I understand that there is no peace in this land, but many deaths do go unreported. The reason it was called a "relative" peace is because there were relatively fewer deaths then what normally occurs. When Zornick reports that Palestinian deaths were unreported, he might want to look at the other side as well because there are bound to be deaths on the other side. On a last note, you addressed "deaths in Palestine." However, from my knowledge, there is no actual Palestinian state or territory.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
