Gaza.

Editor,

The comments sections of every NY Times article about Israel bombing Gaza (which has no air defense, no air force, no warships, no tanks, no artillery, no army) are rife with comments to the effect that Israel's behavior --- whether it be quarantining Gaza, settling the West Bank, bulldozing Palestinians' homes, tearing up Palestinians' olive trees, demolishing entire neighborhoods in Gaza from the air, killing civilians with bombs --- is justified because "Hamas rejects Israel's right to exist and has sworn to destroy Israel."

Hamas is a flea on the back of an elephant.

Yes, Hamas can annoy Israel with harassing rocket fire, but --- despite creative cropping by the NY Times --- compare the damage Israel periodically inflicts on Gaza, or Lebanon, to the damage Hamas is able to inflict on Israel. Compare the number of dead.

Sixty years and still: Anyone who criticizes Israel is an antisemite; Hamas has sworn to destroy Israel.

Yes, Hamas has sworn to destroy Israel.

But it can't.

Yet Israel and Israel's supporters seize on this declaration as an excuse not to find a peaceful solution to this conflict.

Refusing to talk because the other side supposedly refuses to talk provides convenient cover for ambitions that are anything but legitimate and opens the door to committing atrocities in which no civilized nation should engage.

Re: "Let Gaza Breathe" (11/20/2012)