Wark wrong on Israel

Mostly, I like Bruce Wark’s editorials. But War crimes (Jan. 12), not so much. He essentially blames Israel for the whole conflict and labels Israel an oppressor. Perhaps Wark’s column is designed as a counterattack on the so called pro-Israel bias in the press. Yet, we must ask why the press is so biased. Are all the international media involved in some kind of global conspiracy to support one nation over the other? If one follows the media, the message has been that war is disgusting and the loss of innocent lives is tragic, but the conflict is far more complicated than writers like Wark would lead us to believe. Wark is fired up because he attended a demonstration with Ismail Zayid, who gives a shopping list of UN statutes Israel has violated. Based on these standards, even Canada would be in front of a UN tribunal. These “crimes” are taken out of context. Wark’s column might as well have been written by Hamas. He accuses Israel of a 60-year oppression of Palestinians---in 1947 the United Nations voted to recognize the State of Israel. Since that UN vote in ’47, neighbouring countries and terrorist groups operating within those states have tried to do what Hamas is trying to do right now---wipe Israel off the map. Fortunately, there are fairly solid peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan. Those nations chose to recognize the state of Israel’s right to exist and stopped trying to kill Israelis, plain and simple. Unfortunately, Hamas has no interest in recognizing the state of Israel (a vital pre- requisite for peace) and still launches rockets and sends suicide bombers into Israeli civilian targets. Since Wark is a fan of Robbie Burns, how about a verse for suicide bombers who have killed hundreds of innocent Israelis? Earth’d up, here lies an imp o’ hell, Planted by Satan’s dibble; Poor silly wretch, he’s damned himsel’, To save the Lord the trouble (1794). ---Dov Bercovici, Halifax