Baird’s account sheds light Gaza

Thanks to Bruce Ramsey’s column [“Standing up for Gaza’s people,” Opinion, March 31], we’ve learned about Congressman Brian Baird’s trips to the Gaza Strip, laying bare the destruction of The American International School by Israel’s invasion of Gaza in 2009 and the disproportionate deaths of Palestinians.

Congressman Baird should be commended for taking the time to see an area people rarely visit and know little about. If we want a clear picture of Israel and its issues, we need the unvarnished truth about all of those who live there.

— Erin Scarlett, Seattle

The Seattle Times should host public forum on conflict

Most days I despair at the dearth of “discussion” in the U.S. corporate media about the U.S.-Israel-Palestine impasse —one that even Gen. David Petraeus is now declaring a risk to American lives and interests.

How do we seek truth through the veils of fabrication shipped out to us by the Israeli government? They have Frank Luntz to help frame their messages and the bulk of the U.S. Congress willing to betray their constituents for 60 percent of their campaign donations that come from wealthy Jewish donors.

I would love to see The Times host a public forum on the U.S.-Israel-Palestine “conflict.”

— Linda Frank, Tacoma

Terrorists in Gaza can’t send blame elsewhere

Here are some simple truths: The rockets are now able to shoot as far as Jaffa, where my daughter lives. Israel removed settlers and settlements to give Gaza to its residents. Its residents had a higher employment rate under the Israeli administration.

The people of Gaza and the acknowledged terrorist organization now running Gaza, Hamas, are responsible for their actions. This is no less true than the drunk who drives through an intersection and then blames death and devastation on alcohol. One is a cause and the other is an effect. The drunk is still the responsible party.

— Jack Richlen, Bellevue

Boycott Starbucks if you care about justice

Americans are uninformed about the reality in Gaza, east Jerusalem and the West Bank because Israeli propaganda has dominated for 60 years.

Most of the American press and virtually all politicians are afraid to say anything. Many Muslims are angry because our government supports violent, unjust policies. We literally pay taxes that help Israelis to kill, steal from and starve Palestinians. Individual Americans do it, too.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is one of the biggest funders of building “Jewish only” housing in east Jerusalem and forcibly removing Palestinian families from their homes. The families lose everything and end up living in the street in front of their homes while subsidized Jewish Israelis, usually recent immigrants, move into their houses.

We must open our minds to answer the query, “Why do they hate us?”

— Jennifer James, Burien