I Have No Sympathy Either

Here's a great letter, commenting on the story Steve Erlanger published (and which I commented on) which implicitly implicated the father's a children killed by Israeli fire after a Qassam rocket attack:-

Re “For Gaza’s Young at Play, Fields Can Be Deadly” (front page, Sept. 26):

I have never hardened my heart to children, but I have no sympathy for parents who condone barrages of attacks against Israeli civilians (including Israeli children) in the name of a spurious resistance that has accomplished neither peace nor prosperity, while allowing militants freedom to launch those attacks from where their children play.

Israel is condemned for using “state power” to protect its citizens while Hamas, equally a “state power,” claims the right to endanger its own citizens by unprovoked and unproductive acts intended to maximize carnage.

True, these attacks have been ineffectual so far, but their intent is clear. Their material objective, however, is not.

Gazan children will be much better served when their leaders choose to focus on their welfare, through policies of peaceful coexistence, education and economic development.

Ellen W. Kaplan
Springfield, Mass., Sept. 26, 2007