Break blockade, break support for Israeli actions

Editor, The Times:

Israel’s murder of civilians on a humanitarian mission to deliver aid to Gaza and to break the crippling blockade did not surprise me. [“Israel resists calls to apologize for raid,” page one, June 2.]

It is a natural extension of years of actions by Israel that are in ever-greater defiance of international law and human-rights conventions. An ongoing siege of Gaza that, according to one independent study after another — by the Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, United Nations Human Rights Council, etc. — is an act of illegal collective punishment that is starving the population and resulting in an ever-worsening humanitarian disaster.

During the 2008 Gaza massacre, a U.N. Human Rights Council concluded multiple war crimes had been committed by Israel. There is continual illegal annexation and building of settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

At each juncture, Israeli actions were met with support from the U.S. government. It is time to end this support for Israel’s impunity and intransigence. The United States must condemn this criminal attack and demand an immediate end to the imprisonment and starvation of the people of Gaza. More important, the United States needs to renegotiate its relationship with Israeli belligerence and ally itself with international law, human rights and justice.

— Khaled Boulos, Seattle

Stop shielding Israel

What would the United States do if Mexico imposed a blockade on California? We would declare it an act of war and wage war on Mexico.

So where does Israel get the authority to impose a blockade on Palestine? If that by itself is not enough to make a person anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic, then Israel’s attack on the mercy mission to the Palestine refugees probably is. This recent attack by Israel is like a page borrowed from the German playbook during World War II, and the rest of the world sees it for what it is —crimes against humanity.

Its time for the United States to stop shielding Israel, and let Israel answer to the rest of the world in a court of international law.

— Vern Meinz, Olympia

‘Activists’ had agenda to confront blockade; Israel at liberty to defend

Regarding the latest effort by “activists” who make it their life mission to join the worldwide crusade against the Israeli people to fulfill a personal or political agenda —even when that agenda conflicts with the decidedly non-humanitarian agendas of their allies. As always, facts are immaterial to the need to condemn Israel.

The flotilla planners admit the effort was not a “protest,” but an aggressive effort to confront a country that is not their own.

As the State Department noted, a nation has a right to defend itself in international waters from efforts to import lethal military supplies. Naval blockades are an accepted practice, such as the Cuban missile or Egyptian tunnel blockades. It is undisputed that Hamas and its allies have been trafficking missiles and hostile weapons since Israel abandoned Gaza in the hope of peace, and that fences and blockades have saved lives.

Israeli soldiers asked to examine the flotilla’s cargo and further offered to transport legitimate humanitarian supplies to Gaza and were refused. The Israelis unfortunately miscalculated by not anticipating a vicious assault and fired in self-defense.

To make this intelligence failure and resulting tragedy the sole exclusive focus of wrath is unfair. In fact, this episode is not about humanitarian relief any more than the Syrian supply of SCUD missiles to Hezbollah is a mercy mission to the Lebanese. It is and will always be about an underlying existential intolerance of a Jewish nation rooted in the Middle East from time immemorial, and longer than other nations forged in the 20th century, which has a right to preserve itself.

Israel is a thorn in the side of intolerant ideologues with the power to disrupt Western life. It is much easier to fault Israel than Hamas, Hezbullah and Iran. It likely makes sincerely deluded activists feel better.

— Thomas Klein, Kirkland

‘Self-defense’ an act of piracy, compounded by murder

U.S. foreign policy is clearly in the hands of a small Middle Eastern country. Does anyone really expect the United States to support an impartial investigation into any Israeli war crimes? We even refuse to investigate attacks by Israelis on our own sailors on the USS Liberty.

Should you start a fight with someone and he or she grabs a weapon, forcing you to kill him or her in legitimate self-defense, you could be tried for homicide. The aggressor in a fight loses any claim to self-defense.

The same should apply to international law. You cannot forcibly board ships from another country and then claim you shot those repelling you in “self-defense.” This is an act of piracy, compounded by murder.

— Max Hurlbut, Bellingham

A win-win situation for convoy leaders

Ignorance of the facts in the Middle East is one thing — stupidity is quite another [“Israel stumbles, again,” editorial, Opinion, June 2]. Israel is exemplified as enforcer of its blockade, which was not in control of the timing here. The radical terrorist group and the Turkish government that sponsored it timed this confrontation.

The convoy leaders publicly stated they would prefer martyrdom to delivering aid. It was a win-win situation for them: If they broke the blockade, deadly missiles would flood Gaza, adding to the 7,000 already launched against Israel. If Israel stopped them, it would commit suicide by soldier. The uninformed would play into their hands.

— Cliff Godwin, Seattle

The root of terrorism

It is very sad to see yet another eruption of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. One point that is not emphasized enough is that the citizens of both Israel and Palestine want and need peace.

The strength of Israel’s military looms over Palestine. The Palestinians are constantly humiliated and belittled. Opportunity is blocked at every angle.

While the U.S. pours money into Israel, it is good business for the military-industrial complex.

Conditions were disgusting in Gaza 10 years ago —I was there —and now they are 100 times worse.

Every time Israel strikes, thousands of terrorists are made. Wake up, America. The problems existing in Israel and Palestine are the root of terrorism. Learn the history.

— Jean Knight, Mercer Island

What choice is Israel left with?

The violent resistance to Israel’s inevitable boarding of the ships bound for the Gaza Strip with 800 pro-Palestinian activists and tons of material was designed to create the very condemnation the U.N. Security Council is bound to provide. The deaths of nine demonstrators and injuries of dozens more, though unfortunate, is most likely viewed as an “acceptable loss” in Iran.

Hezbollah’s response, no doubt approved by Tehran, must be seen for what it is: a smoke screen to divert attention away from Iran’s nuclear ambitions and focus on the predictably prickly nature of Israel’s self-defense.

Keep in mind analysts believe Iran is on the cusp of completing its first nuclear bomb, and thanks to a deal with the North Koreans, it now has the capability of delivering the warhead to Israel with accuracy.

Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s rants include the comment of “wiping Israel off the earth.” Isn’t it reminiscent of how the West stood by while Hitler articulated his plan for the Jews? What choice is Israel left with?

— Wayne Mayo, Scappoose, Ore.