Below the following Op Ed, links to letters in today's DM Register.
Looking beyond the body count
The Arizona Republic January 11, 2009
To Israel's harshest critics, nothing is more fraught with meaning than body counts: Do the simple math and you'll see many more Palestinians have died than Israelis. Case closed. Israel is guilty of bloodlust.
"Cheap" isn't a strong enough word to describe this distortion. It is a way of turning off the brain, to spare yourself from thinking hard about the real cause of today's crisis in Gaza, or more likely, to tilt the board so Israel cannot win - no matter what it does.
All you have to know about the Israelis is this: If their enemies had the same weapons they have, there would be no Israel today. There would be a second Holocaust. Palestinians and their apologists in the international community actually know this as they weave their fictions that Israelis are wanton aggressors and killers of children.
This is stratagem. Condemn Israel every time it defends itself and you demoralize and ultimately de-legitimize the Jewish state.
But one brave New York Times reporter has gone beyond the shallow logic of body counts to give a glimpse of what is really at work in Gaza. In his Friday story, Taghreed El-Khodary described the crush of critically injured patients at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City that was momentarily intruded by a Hamas fighter.
The fighter demanded doctors treat his less serious leg wound. "Hurry, I must get back so I can keep fighting," he said, smiling broadly. "When we fire we run, but (the Israelis) hit back so fast. We run into the houses to get away."
"Why are you so happy?" El-Khodary asked. "Look around you." There was an elderly man soaked in blood. A wounded baby looking about "helplessly." A teenage girl screaming in pain. A family wailing. "Don't you see that these people are hurting?"
Smiling radiantly, the fighter said, "But I am from the people, too. They lost their loved ones as martyrs. They should be happy. I want to be a martyr, too."
The real perversion of the body-count slander is that it hides a larger truth - that Israel actually cares more about the physical well-being of Gaza's civilians than do their own brothers who call themselves Hamas.
----------------------
Links to Letters to the Editor, Des Moines Register, January 11, 2009
Hamas doesn't allow room for negotiation
On Jan. 3, your front-page headline "Hamas Resilient Despite Israeli Onslaught" had to bring joy and comfort to all of those who want to see Israel destroyed. Let us not forget that the Hamas charter document calls for destruction of the Zionist entity. More
Israel must finally destroy Hamas So-called leaders from around the world, along with the usual caterwauling liberals, want a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. With ground forces now in Gaza after days of aerial attacks, Israel seems unwavering in its resolve to end the terror of Hamas. Hamas must be destroyed. More.
Remember rockets fired into Israel Thank you for printing Richard Cohen's Jan. 6 column, reminding everyone that a steady stream of Qassam rockets fired into Israel is what started this whole mess. I'm amazed at how many commentators who condemn Israel overlook this fact. More.
