Readers React: Who’s really responsible for the suffering in Gaza? Israel or Hamas?

To the editor: The picture of wounded Palestinians raises tremendous sympathy. But one must remember two facts.

First, if any other border in the world were under siege by thousands of people trying to storm the country, many armed with dangerous weapons openly expressing the desire to murder the people on the other side, the carnage would be tenfold.

Second, Gaza has two borders, one with Israel and one with Egypt. For some reason, the fault for the lack of supplies is always put at the border gate on one side. Why didn’t you write, “because of the stifling boycott supported by Egypt”?

If Israel allows the unfettered “return” it will be the second Holocaust, called for openly by many Palestinians. If the Palestinians put down their weapons for six months, aid would flow in and peace would prevail.

But in six months, the Palestinians will attack again.

David Goodwin, Pasadena

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To the editor: Israel faces international criticism over its shooting of civilian, non-violent protesters along the Gaza-Israel line because it refuses to recognize Palestinian human rights.

Israel gets criticized if it shoots to kill Palestinians, or if it shoots to wound them. Israel can avoid criticism by recognizing Palestinian human rights and ending its 11-year blockade of Gaza that has driven many residents into utter despair.

But Israel refuses to do that. It would rather keep the Palestinians under occupation, deprived of human, civil and economic rights, and endure the international criticism. After all, why worry about international criticism if the United States is always on your side? That, of course, makes the U.S. complicit in Israel’s crimes.

Jeff Warner, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I have been a devoted reader of the L.A. Times for more than 50 years. However, I was appalled by the one-sided reporting and photographic images about recent Gaza “protesters” who face the loss of limbs.

At the end of the article, the mother of the main subject of the article is quoted as saying, “They go (near the fence) out of despair, because there is no money.” I ask: Whose fault is this? The terrorist organization Hamas, which keeps its people in grinding poverty and diverts funds meant for public services to military activities against Israel.

I am waiting for a follow-up article with photos about how all this Hamas-provoked violence affects Israelis who live on the other side of the Gaza Strip border. I am not holding my breath.

Ann C. Hayman, Westwood

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To the editor: Any reader with half of a heart has to be moved when confronted with the description of the immense and needless suffering of the residents of Gaza under the rule of Hamas. But any reader with half a brain has to be moved to anger by the the fact that the media provide the coverage that fuels the Hamas death and destruction machine.

Keith Abouaf, Los Angeles

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