I would like to strongly echo Mary Dunn’s May 14 letter in response to Chris Myers Asch’s love letter to the state of Israel (“How can a liberal love Israel?” May 10), a nation which is currently waging a disproportionate war against the Palestinian people of Gaza, killing tens of thousands of human beings and creating a man-made famine where even more people are dying because they have no food.
Ms. Dunn’s letter accurately and compellingly describes the status quo of those under assault from the Israeli occupation forces. I would briefly like to recount some of the past actions of Israel that have led to the present circumstances.
The state of Israel was created in 1948 out of land that was inhabited by others. 750,000 Palestinians were displaced (often at gunpoint) to make room for this new state. 15,000 were killed. 500 cities and towns were renamed from Arabic to Hebrew. Now in the occupied territories, Palestinians may not have a standing army. They do not have the rights of Israeli citizenship or of return to their homeland. They may not use the same roads as Israelis. They do not have freedom of assembly or speech.
It is Myers Asch’s right to love a state that was established and maintains itself on the suffering of others. But I for one stand with Dunn, most of the rest of the world, and I suspect the analysis of historians of the future, in wholly rejecting apartheid states like Israel for the oppressive and destructive institutions that they are.
Todd Ricker
Portland
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