WCR Letters to the Editor

Moore should pay heed to pope

I thought for a moment that I'd mixed up a page from a secular sensationalist tabloid when I began reading Charles Moore's vitriolic tirade on the WCR's opinion page of Aug. 20.

He says that he's not suggesting that the Israelis' record is lily-white, or that the Palestinian people may not have some legitimate grievances. That's very generous of him.

The remainder of his article, however, is the verbal equivalent of the high explosive nail bombs he cites in his opening salvo, aimed squarely at the Palestinians.

With his belief that the terrorist campaign will never end; his joyful proclamation that Israel has "the whip hand militarily" and that "thanks to American Jewish and pro-Israel evangelical Christian pressure . . . ready to exert whatever degree of military force may be necessary" (to guarantee Israel's security), we have one very angry man.

His parting shots contain the threatening words that (the Israelis) have the trained soldiers, helicopters, rockets and automatic infantry weapons that are more than a match for rocks and Molotov cocktails.

Well, I guess so. Which is why since September 2000, some 550 Palestinians have died compared with about 150 Israelis and why living in a Palestinian village has been compared to living in a prison.

Our Mr. Moore concludes his distasteful commentary on the situation with the sage pronouncement: "If there is a workable proposal for compromise in Palestine I have yet to hear it." Somehow I doubt that we are going to hear one from him, as his aim is clearly to be destructive, not constructive.

Mr. Moore would do well to read the Holy Father's insightful comments on the same subject (front page, same issue) where he so strongly condemns the use of violence to resolve the problem and reaffirms the dignity of the human spirit as he focuses our attention on images of distress and the terrible human suffering that is taking place in that sad land.

Brian Spiers
Edmonton

Moore relies on stereotypes

Surely you can find more knowledgeable and competent commentators on the complex history and current reality of the conflict in the Middle East.

To equate Israelis with "civilization, order and the rule of law" and Palestinians with "terrorism, mayhem and warlordism" is to stereotype and oversimplify and fails to contribute to a more informed public debate on this conflict.

I would hope for better from the WCR.

T.F. Hartnagel
Edmonton

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