Reader Disagrees with Feedback on 'Jenin'

The murder of innocent civilians is wrong, no matter of circumstances. To those Palestinian civilians that were killed during Operation Defensive Shield in Jenin, I am sorry. I am sorry that terrorists would choose to live and hide within the civilian population, intentionally endangering all residents. The issues regarding the fighting in Jenin are complicated, not just according to "some claims of Zionists" as Denis Muradov wrote in his letter titled "Readers Should Get their Own Facts on Jenin Incident" in the Feb. 24 issue of The Spectrum.

Muradov accuses Israeli soldiers of violating the Geneva convention by, "using civilians as human shields, denying ambulance access...and using bulldozers indiscriminately."

Israeli soldiers have never used civilians as human shields. They are violating the Geneva Convention by not having uniformed soldiers, which makes it impossible for Israeli soldiers to tell who is a civilian and who is a terrorist.

Second, did anyone stop to think why would the IDF check all ambulances? Maybe it's because on several occasions, ambulances have been found smuggling terrorists and weapons in and out of places.

Third, bulldozers were not used "indiscriminately." Many homes in the Jenin refugee camp were booby-trapped. Since the terrorists set explosives to these homes, there was nothing the IDF could do but destroy them. According to Palestinian medical sources, after Israel pulled out of Jenin, 14 Palestinian civilians, including sixchildren, were killed because of these houses.

I will agree with Muradov on one thing: readers should research the conflict themselves. Our new website, www.israeloncampus.org/ub will provide a lot of information.

The discussion after the screening of "Jenin, Jenin" was very important People from both sides of the issue sat down and peacefully discussed our differences and ways to improve them in the future.

Finally, Zionism is not anti-Arab or anti-Muslim. It is simply the hope of the Jewish people to have a Jewish homeland in Israel. Those that say that Zionism and Judaism can be divided are wrong. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in 1968, "When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You are talking anti-Semitism."