In his May 12 letter Segev omits facts, Keith Bradley writes: "There will be no peace in the Middle East until the Israelis give up the occupied territories and grant the right of return to the Palestinians now living in refugee camps."
Recent history disproves Bradley's theory. In 2005, Israel completely withdrew from the entire Gaza Strip. Instead of seizing the historical opportunity to build a Palestinian society without Israel, Hamas, which has sworn to destroy Israel, responded with thousands of missiles and rockets into sovereign Israeli territory in addition to kidnapping and murdering Israelis. It is incredible that Israel's withdrawal has led to lawlessness and oppression in Gaza by the Hamas government, such that many Gazans wish Israel still controlled its streets.
Bradley's suggestion that peace in the region hinges on unilateral Israeli concessions is absurd. The Middle East is nearly 17 million square kilometres with approximately 463 million people. No reasonable person believes Israel, a country of seven million people and 20,700 square kilometres, is responsible for the lack of peace in the Middle East.
Would Syria and Iran stop trying to take over Lebanon if there was an Israeli/Palestinian peace accord? How has Israel contributed to the genocide in Darfur? How are the Israelis impeding the Kurds in their bloody struggle for self-determination? What does Israel have to do with the violent civil strife in Algeria? Are the Sunnis and Shiites butchering each other in Iraq because they are mad at Israel?
There will be "peace in the Middle East" when people like Bradley take the time to examine the big picture and investigate the myriad and complex root causes of the problems in the region rather than adopting a knee-jerk "blame Israel" attitude.
Jeremy Feuer
Winnipeg
Democracy lacking
Re: Standing up for Israel, May 12.
I was rather dismayed by the conclusion of your editorial when it stated that: "(Israel is) a vigorous democracy, an oasis of hope in a region ruled by despair."
I appreciated the well wishes by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to Israel on its 60th anniversary and would strongly encourage Canada to be an unswerving ally of Israel and its right to exist in safety and security. However, having just returned from a Israel/Palestine visit, the lack of any democracy in the Israeli occupied territories for half the population was painfully obvious to me.
How can a state be considered a democracy when a major portion of the people living under its governance have no say in its courts or government?
In general, the many Palestinians I talked to were understanding of Israel's need for security but were also hoping for some security of their own.
A number of the Israeli people we talked to feared the loss of their Jewish soul because the State of Israel was not exemplifying the justice, freedom and peace ideals so important in the creation of Israel 60 years ago.
By not providing freedom and justice and a voice for all its people, Israel will never find its way to safety, security and peace.
Ron Dueck
Winnipeg
Support Palestinian state
The editorial Standing up for Israel upholds the myth that Israel is the victim in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This has been the contention of the very successful Israeli propaganda machine for decades. Some deliberate omissions should be highlighted. Israel was created at the expense of Palestinians who lived in that area for centuries. Palestinians were forced out of their homes and land. Israel continues to encroach on more Palestinian land. Israel maintains the most powerful military force in the region, and uses it against resistance to the occupation of Palestinian land.
The Palestinians are treated in a humiliating and inhumane fashion by the Israeli military. They have also suffered four times as many casualties in the conflict. There exists considerable evidence that crimes against humanity have been perpetrated against the Palestinian people by successive Israeli governments. So who, in reality, is the victim? I, for one, want the Canadian government to stand up for a Palestinian state.
Gene Oczkowski
Winnipeg
Embrace one-child policy
Re: Shooting the messenger won't help, May 12.
Bartley Kives omits from his save-our-planet equation a behemoth of a variable -- that being our insatiable desire to procreate at an alarming rate. I would argue that the biggest single contribution to our fragile planet's woes is an unsustainable population growth. The world's population explosion is the death knell to the delicate balance of our precious ecosystem. Witness ever-expanding areas of the world that were meant to sustain a mere fraction of the existing population -- yet reproduction goes unchecked and growing exponentially.
Unsupportable overpopulation results in rivers of raw sewage, choking pollution, plundered, pillaged and depleted natural resources -- often only to meet a hand-to-mouth existence. The human spirit is also a victim of this dementia, suffering the indignity of life where basic social needs are taxed to the point of no return -- medical, educational, recreational amenities collapsed under overburdens.
The time has come to speak of the compelling ecological and ethical arguments to control world population and put the brakes on our breeding frenzy. The entire world needs to embrace a one-child policy for the sake of humanity and its survival in dignity.
Robert Gamache
Winnipeg
Fixed-election dates good/p>
Re: Fixed elections a futile gesture, May 11.
With respect to Sidney Green and his accomplishments, he is simply wrong that fixed election dates do not benefit Manitobans -- they benefit all voters because they strengthen and improve a person's ability to participate in politics.
Every voter in this province benefits when the individual who wishes to represent them in the legislature is a person of quality representing Manitoba's diversity, but being a candidate takes a great deal of time and money and energy. Every person in this province deserves the right to participate and we need to improve access to that participation, not limit it. People need to make job and family arrangements.
It is especially difficult for women candidates who have the additional responsibilities of making child care arrangements because many women are still the primary caregivers at home. Many women would be excellent additions to the legislature but cannot make the arrangements to look after their children for 35 days because they simply don't know when the election will occur.
Green may not have considered this but the priorities and needs of Manitobans have changed since he was a NDP cabinet minister. He writes that the parliamentary system was "pretty darn good before the technocrats started to undo it." It's not all that perfect, Mr. Green. Frankly, I want to see more women in the legislature, more people from different backgrounds, and more people representing the diverse workforce in Manitoba.
Dennis Trochim
Executive Director
Manitoba Liberal Party
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