All Forms of Terrorism in Mideast Must Stop

Re “Suicide Attacks Kill 2 Israelis,” May 23: My prayers go to those injured in the latest suicide bombing in Israel. I am glad that ambulances were able to reach them quickly so that they could get immediate medical attention, and I pray that each will make a complete recovery.

Sadly, the victims I saw in Nablus recently were not so fortunate. Ambulances were destroyed and medical personnel attacked while trying to reach civilians lying in streets and the rubble of their homes. The Israeli Defense Forces’ claims that ambulances carried weapons and explosives are false. I was fortunate to accompany some of these dedicated technicians, whose only concern was to provide aid to innocent people who happened to be Palestinians.

Terrorism is reprehensible whether committed by suicide bomber, tank or a rocket fired from an Apache helicopter. All forms of terrorism must stop if there is ever to be peace in the region.

Mary Hughes-Thompson

Los Angeles

*

“In Maiming Israeli Bodies, Bombers Maim the Soul,” Commentary, May 21: What does the Palestinian bomber really seek? I think that what the Palestinian suicide bomber seeks is to let the world--and specifically the Israeli people--know that he or she, in a state of hopelessness, is tired of having his or her dignity and right to existence denied. Palestinians’ rights to education, access to medical care and emotional well-being, along with their pursuit of freedom and economic independence, are compromised. Unfortunately, the state of despair they find themselves in has led them to succumb to the only weapon that they have, which is being suicide bombers.

The authors of this commentary can easily reference their observations interchangeably to what the Palestinians are subjected to. By no means do I justify suicide bombings directed at innocent Israeli citizens. By the same token, I do not justify Israeli attacks on innocent Palestinian citizens. Until both sides start seeing each other as equal and as human beings, as they are seen in the eyes of God, there will never be a solution for this very complicated conflict.

Lulu Emery

Canyon Country