Down with division

In regards to Shirley Groves’s letter [“Defining defence,” Oct. 5], as well as in general response to the whole Middle Eastern debate on your letters page, I’ll add my own three cents.

The sufferings of the Lebanese population, the Palestinian peoples and the Israeli population have certain parallels in that all of these communities include large groups of victims of violence and conflict.

Much as individuals suffer extreme violence with predictable psychosis, such as rage, humiliation, paranoia and a need for vengeance, the macrocosm of larger communities will include people who act on these emotions.

To forget or belittle Palestinian suffering and its ill effects on the communities involved is to belittle the memory and human effects of the Nazi Holocaust, and vice versa. There are groups worldwide who benefit in terms of political power and its spoils from military conflict. The Israeli military may be a proxy of the U.S. military-industrial complex, but groups like Hezbollah are very much in the debt of Iran and other military client states that are hardly the embodiment of enlightenment or rationality. The stakes may be higher in this century, but the game of playing off victims against each other and using the spectres of patriotism and religious faith to foster and fuel resentment is hardly new.

Demonizing the Israelis as fascistic puppets of U.S. interests or Palestinians as terrorist sympathizers and fanatics only serves the interests of the élite who thrive on the resulting chaos.

In a world stricken by sectarian wars, ecological degradation and preventable diseases, it behoves the common citizens of this planet to view our interests beyond the artificial boundaries of nations and faith. The more we cling to notions such as conflicts being between peoples (i.e. Israelis vs. Arabs), the less likely we are to peer behind the curtain at those who would divide us. World peace may be a lofty and perhaps a Quixotic goal, but to begin down that road it is good to remember the simple human needs of love, health and happiness that reflect our commonality.

We all suffer from global violence, psychologically, at the very least. We have a common need of help and understanding in our lives and in both its giving and receiving, we become ever more whole and human.

» Mike

Ken Frankel’s babbling of history must be taken into context [“Defending Israel,” Letters, Oct. 12].

First, Arab armies of the 1940s and after were not targeting Jews; they were pitted against an invasion, in principle, by the Europeans—the folks who executed a cleansing action, or a mea culpa for past atrocities. The Arab governments (and particularly the Palestinians) had no voice in this takeover—one mandated by God himself, according to our Judeo-Christian Bible. Frankel’s voice is akin to that of the American Christian right, the same folks who wouldn’t want a Jew living next door.

The huge military aid given to Israel by the U.S., and the aid given to Egypt by the USSR, are one of the many contests perpetrated by the Cold War—a war of five-decades’ duration. Many lives and cultures were affected during this long interval, with Arab populations being the victims of both the U.S. and the Soviet interventions.

Israel was the U.S. surrogate and became a major occupier under the auspices of “This Land is Mine,” as with the “Manifest Destiny” against the Natives during the settling of America. These outrageous dictums are still upheld by the Israeli government, while, increasingly, Jewish groups in Israel and abroad have united in “Peace Now” efforts to lend equality and justice in the occupied territories.

A final note to Mr. Frankel: Occupation has never succeeded in world history, and the unjust economic strangulation of Palestinians into bantustans continues with impunity, all under the very noses of the UN’s Security Council. These policies only sow the seeds of vengeance—much as in Frankel’s own writing.

» Edward Abramic

Step forward, good women

After reading Marilis’s follow-up on “Fall is for lover haters” [Letters, Oct. 12], I felt I needed to debunk this stereotype that “there are no good men out there.”

I was born and raised in a healthy family that believed and applied the value of equality between the sexes. But the more I hear about women who are disgruntled at the apparent lack of available men, the more I realize that there’s a gap in equality concerning matters of courtship.

I absolutely disagree with this “too few good men” excuse because it’s simply not true! Maybe when more women learn to step up and participate in the joy and misery of introducing themselves to someone they’ve never met before, maybe then, dear Marilis, you’ll understand why the unseen “good men” are usually the ones who don’t throw cheap pick-up lines at you. And if more people take the initiative, won’t that improve the odds for everybody?

» J.S. Smolsky

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