True stories uncloak one-sided U.S. support for Israel

Brian Baird is an honest man who judges what he sees by a single standard, whether it is in the United States or in Gaza. [“Standing up for Gaza’s people,” Bruce Ramsey column, Opinion, March 31.]

As an American who went to see what was happening in the West Bank and Gaza for herself, I applaud the decision to allow Baird to say what he saw. I saw war crimes, apartheid, ethnic cleansing and torture. As a human-rights lawyer, I documented them. As an activist, I nonviolently tried to prevent them.

When I came home to tell Americans that our tax dollars were paying for these atrocities, many people did not want to hear it or believe it. It is columns like this that will begin to persuade people something is wrong with our one-sided support for Israel. Only when the United States stops its unconditional support for Israel can Palestinians and Israelis begin to negotiate equality with justice for all people.

— Linda Bevis, Seattle

Israelis were killed, look toward Hamas

Bruce Ramsey’s column published Mar. 31 is distorted and inaccurate.

“The rockets hadn’t killed any Israelis.” In fact, one foreign worker was killed by a Kassam rocket as recently as two weeks ago. It also included inaccuracies about Rachel Corrie and Israel’s legitimate, defensive war on Gaza in response to thousands of Hamas rockets indiscriminately fired on its civilian population.

Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza more than four years ago, hoping for peaceful relations with Palestinian Arabs. Instead, currently ruling Hamas is an extremist terrorist organization. Its goal is to destroy Israel. A lasting peace can only be achieved if Palestinian Arabs renounce violence, recognize Israel as a Jewish state and end their hate campaign against Israelis and Jews living in their ancestral homeland.

— Josh Basson, Seattle

Solution: Build an oil pipeline

Does anyone out there really think Israel will ever allow the creation of a Palestinian state? Why don’t we just do away with the charades of the last 60-plus years and give Israel everything it wants; it’s going to happen eventually anyway.

Bruce Ramsey’s column illustrates the spell the Israel lobby has cast over every branch of our government and how powerless we are in dealing with it.

My solution: Expel the Palestinians to Iraq and build a large oil pipeline from Iraq to Israel. That way, Israelites will no longer have to deal with the Palestinians and they can get rich off Iraqi oil. Israel will then have the peace, security and wealth it deserves.

— Gary Negley, Mill Creek

Damage report on Hamas

Bruce Ramsey’s column on Gaza is long on complaints and short on solutions.

The miserable condition of Gaza is indisputable. The key question is what each side has done to bring a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Israel has consistently demonstrated its desire for peace. Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered the Palestinians a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2000, but the offer was rejected. Ariel Sharon, Israeli prime minister at the time, unilaterally withdrew every Jew from Gaza in 2005, hoping it would bring peace and calm.

Hamas, in marked contrast, has consistently called for Israel’s destruction through violent jihad. It has acted on those calls by targeting Israeli civilians with thousands of rockets.

While the damage to life and property caused by Israel’s 2009 military response was tragic, it all could have been avoided if the Palestinians had focused their resources on building a brighter future for themselves rather than trying to destroy Israel. The blame sits squarely on Hamas’ shoulders.

— Randy Kessler, Mercer Island

Thank you, Congressman Baird

My thanks go out to Congressman Brian Baird. I do not live in his district, but I am grateful that this representative from Washington is showing courage and trying to do the right thing for the people of Gaza and the West Bank.

The Palestinians deserve justice and peace.

— Michael Silence, Bellevue