Collective punishment
Re “Suffering intensifies in Gaza,” Oct. 29
During the 1950s, when I was in high school and college, we studied and discussed World War II extensively. In my readings about the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto and other Jewish enclaves, I read how the German military leadership inflicted collective punishment on Jews for fighting back against the German occupation, and I came to believe that collective punishment was both criminal and a form of genocide, as it contributed to the Holocaust.
Now I watch in horror as I see Israel inflicting collective punishment against the innocent in an attempt to punish the guilty. Punishing the innocent will only create more recruits ready to give their lives in revenge for the injustices of collective punishment.
People of all religions, cultures and nations must demand that collective punishment be treated as a war crime and that every use of it be prosecuted in international courts.
Hollis Stewart
Los Angeles
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Yes, Israel is now partly cutting off power deliveries to Gaza because the Hamas regime continues the relentless barrage of missiles on homes in Israel. It is tragic. Palestinians seem to prefer rockets on others rather than electricity for themselves.
Scott Abramson
San Mateo
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