To the Editor:? Kenny Gould’s article “The Real Israel” (1/09/2009) was perhaps the most appalling article I have read in four years of subscription to the Phillipian. To use the author’s own words, it was “sadly flawed.” I was shocked that the editors would allow such a clearly biased article to be published without any acknowledgement of the other side. How can one present these ethnic stereotypes and skewed data? As we all know, there are two sides to every story. When I was in Palestine, I saw the adversity the Palestinian people must face every day because of Israeli government policies. I have friends who are forced to live behind a 28-foot wall and have never been to Jerusalem—a holy city less than 10 miles away from their homes. Mr. Gould writes, “[Palestinians] are people that don’ t have adequate medical supplies because they hide rockets in hospitals and scream when Israel blows them up.” This is not true. In fact, the “security wall” that Israel has erected—not the barbaric nature of the Arab people—is what keeps Palestinians away from lifesaving treatments and keeps pregnant women from receiving the most basic care. Too many people have died because a 28-foot monster—a constant reminder of Israeli power—separates these two cultures. Every day, Palestinians are unable to get to work on the other side of the wall because of the Israeli guards who harass them at checkpoints. I will never forget the image of 50 Palestinian men sitting along the side of the road, just waiting to be allowed to pass, as our American car drove through the checkpoint without a second glance. More often than not, the Palestinians’ request for entry is denied. I wonder if Mr. Gould has ever spoken to his friends in the Israeli army about the young man who was beaten and left to die on the side of the road, or of the little girl who was shot and killed through a car window while passing through a checkpoint. I wonder if Mr. Gould has ever met a Palestinian. I could examine the article, address other claims and attack Mr. Gould for inflammatory remarks such as, “Arab mothers send their children onto rooftops of buildings with bombs in them so that the Israeli will not shoot”; however it is more productive to speak of the real heroes—the people working for peace. Unknown to the majority of the world, several organizations exist in which Israeli and Palestinian people are working together in hopes that they will be the catalysts of peace. Why does no one speak about “The Israeli Coalition Against House Demolition” that strives to end the destruction of Palestinian homes and protests against Israeli settlements that invade Palestinian land? Or what about “Breaking the Silence,” an organization of ex-soldiers in the Israeli Defense Force who speak out against the human rights violations that are taking place in the occupied territories? These ex-soldiers realize the ways in which such violations have dehumanized not only the Palestinians, but also themselves, as soldiers, having to carry out orders that they consider immoral. But perhaps the group with the most poignant message is the “Bereaved Parents’ Circle.” Comprised of both Israeli and Palestinian men and women, the members of this group have all lost loved ones to the violence. They are victims of radical Palestinian suicide bombers who throw themselves into crowds. They are similarly victims of zealous Israeli soldiers who shoot at innocent civilians and take prisoners without apparent reason. But these families have come together and found strength—not necessarily to forgive—but to work with the “other side” to strive for peace. These people are not the ones who make headlines. Instead, we read, day after day, of the endless violence that poisons our world. What purpose does Mr. Gould’s article serve? How are we supposed to end the conflict with the closed-mindedness exhibited in his article? The real Israel is not all good or all bad, but neither is the real Palestine. We are supposed to be the future. It is time we start acting like it.
