Less artillery, less rhetoric and more respect

I would like to respond to Brian Jones’s column, “Love your children, don’t condemn them to perpetual war,” which appeared in The Telegram on July 25.

This article discusses the Gaza conflict, and suggests that the Palestinians are essentially the victims of their poor choices of leadership and of their own blind aggression towards Israel.

I would suggest two criteria that might be useful in recognizing the “aggressor” in any conflict: territorial gain and body count. On both criteria, Israel seems well qualified as an aggressor.

At the recent Gaza protest in St. John’s, cards were handed out which showed the dramatic loss of territory by the Palestinians since 1946.

Palestine is now a very small fraction of itself, compared to 1946. Furthermore, Palestinian land is so hopelessly fragmented that it is difficult for Palestinians to function as a coherent economic and social whole.

Another interesting handout at the Gaza protest addressed the issue of the body count. In the Six Day War of 1967, 776 Israelis died versus 18,300 Palestinians. Since the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza began in 1967, the score is as follows: 6,758 Israelis died and 54,153 Palestinians died.

Jones’s article shows the creative logic that is needed to justify Israel’s position.

First, Jones raises the banner against anti-Semitism. Then he indicates that it is unlikely that Pride Week would be well received in Gaza.

How do we interpret this opening? Does this mean that if I oppose Brian Jones’s position that I am a gay-bashing antiSemite?

Next, he jumps to the shooting down of Flight MH17 in Ukraine.

Again, an interpretation is difficult. Do deaths in Ukraine somehow moderate the significance of deaths in Gaza?

Finally, we come to a quote from Golda Meir: “We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us.”

What is the logic here? By refusing abject surrender of their territory, Palestinians are killing their own children?

It might help if Palestinians were subjected to less artillery, less rhetoric and more respect.