I am shocked and appalled that in the Reader Feedback section of The January 26 issue of The Spectrum, I found a letter that was so grossly biased and bigoted. For Eric Bokozba to claim that anyone is justified to go into someone else's house and take it with little or no recompense is abominable.
How is this considered to be peace? I find the Israeli claims on this land to be equivalent to the claims that the Boers have on the land of South Africa, those the European settlers had on Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe) or the British claims on lands like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
I don't have a personal anecdote to attach to my statements about the sheer atrocities that are carried out in the supposed "Holy Lands."
I do have accounts of daily harassments at borders, curfews that may prevent a mother from going to a pharmacy for medicine for her sick child in the middle of the night and of course, lands that were promised by the wonderful late Yitzhak Rabin that are still occupied by cruel settlers who ignore these treaties. Rabin is one of the few who have tried for peace, so why do people say the Palestinians killed him? No, he was killed by his own who feared peace and justice would finally be given to all.
I am not going to point fingers at all Israelis, nor am I going to blame the Palestinians. Both sides have enough blood on their hands. I only write to defend those who only have stones to defend themselves against bullets. How is this a fair fight for peace?
When recalling Israeli settlers shooting Hebron citizens at prayer in the back, I remember what my mother told me before I was old enough to understand how to be fair to all in terms of peace:
"Pray not for those who have died at the hands of those who hate. Pray instead for those haters to embrace peace."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
