"Date: 03 August 06
To: Ms Patricia Torpey
From: Arie Gillon
Subject: War
Dear Tricia
You succeeded to surprise me. I know that the European media is biased against Israel, sometimes even hostile. I stopped listening to BBC radio in my car years ago because of that, but I still see it on the TV every time I am abroad. I just did not think that the hostile reporting affects people that lived here or have positive attitude towards Israel.
We are considered bearable when we suffer. There are not complains against Israel when we tolerate our neighbours launching rockets on our houses. We did tolerated this for years in the past and until recently, because it hurt “only” limited part of the population, “just” Kiryat Shmona in the north and Sderot in the south. Last month the situation escalated. The terrorist organizations Hammas in Gaza and Hizballa in Lebanon crossed the borders, killed some people and kidnapped several others and simultaneously started a massive attack on substantially bigger towns, Ashkelon in the south and Nahariya in the north. Later on they attacked Haifa, Acco (Acre), Carmiel, Nazareth etc, an area with population of more then million citizens. How come that the world has the cheek to condemn us for defending our lives?
We occupied the territories not because we were interested in controlling their population or in seizing territories, but because we were forced to it when the situation became unbearable and there was no other way to stop killing our citizens. We were of course condemned immediately and continuously. (Anybody remembers that Turkey occupies half Cyprus?) When several years ago our prime minister Ehud Barak decided to go towards the Palestinians as far as dividing Jerusalem, they did not suffice with that. They insisted on the right to “return” to Tel-Aviv and started the second blood-soaked intifada.
Until then the Israelis were divided into two groups, practically equivalent in size: One half claiming that the situation can not continue like this forever and that we should give a chance to peace by heavily compromising with the Palestinians. The other half claimed that Arabs understand only the language of power, that any agreement with them is worthless and any compromise would be the starting point of the next conflict. When Arafat rejected Barak’s outstanding offer, the majority of the Israeli population realized that the second group is probably right. Despite that, when Ariel Sharon, understanding that it is not possible to make an agreement with the Palestinians but it is also impossible to keep their territories, led the move of one-sided withdrawal from Gaza, the vast majority of Israelis supported him. When the independent Gaza had democratic elections, the extreme terrorist organization Hammas became the leading force. This result clearly indicates what the Palestinian people want. The last two generations were educated so by their leaders.
War is war. There is not a war without victims. The Israeli army was always highly moralistic. In Lebanon many of our soldiers fell because they did not shoot terrorists that took cover behind women and children. When the US troops revenged in Afghanistan the Al-Kaida’s attack on New-York, they did not give a damn about the civilians. Hizballa located itself among the population. I wonder if your TV shows the rocket launching platforms located between inhabited houses. Their headquarters with storage of ammunition and weapons was located in a hospital. Should this grant them immunity? In sake of lives, the Israeli Defense Forces take such unreasonable steps like calling by phone to houses that are going to be attacked, in order to allow the people to escape. Obviously the terrorists get the warnings as well. The Israeli army considers this situation preferable to killing civilians together with the terrorists.
Obviously mistakes can happen. It is a miracle that it happened only once so far, that tens of civilians were killed by a mistake. How many times this happened in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, by a mistake or on purpose? Who protested?
The difference between us and the Arabs is that if they stop fighting, there will be peace in the Middle East. If we stop fighting, there will be no Israel. Our conscience is clean. We have the right to live in peace, no less and perhapse more than any other nation.
Dear Tricia, I intend to send a copy of my letter to several people that may also be influenced by anti-Israeli propaganda that we here believe has its origins in anti-Semitism. Feel free to send it to more people if you think that what I expressed here is right.
You may want to have a look at these sites:
See that most of the world thinks that we should suffer being killed without reacting:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/14/mideast/index.html , Quickvote
See the opinion of a modern Arab woman on the Middle East conflict (from El Jazira TV):
http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=214&ar=1050wmv&ak=null
http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1050
Get an aproximate idea about the area of Israel under everyday attacks (Maalot, Karmiel, Nazareth and more missing from this map):
http://www.conceptwizard.com/n-israel.html
Love, Arie
Tel Aviv"
From: Arie Gillon
Subject: War
Dear Tricia
You succeeded to surprise me. I know that the European media is biased against Israel, sometimes even hostile. I stopped listening to BBC radio in my car years ago because of that, but I still see it on the TV every time I am abroad. I just did not think that the hostile reporting affects people that lived here or have positive attitude towards Israel.
We are considered bearable when we suffer. There are not complains against Israel when we tolerate our neighbours launching rockets on our houses. We did tolerated this for years in the past and until recently, because it hurt “only” limited part of the population, “just” Kiryat Shmona in the north and Sderot in the south. Last month the situation escalated. The terrorist organizations Hammas in Gaza and Hizballa in Lebanon crossed the borders, killed some people and kidnapped several others and simultaneously started a massive attack on substantially bigger towns, Ashkelon in the south and Nahariya in the north. Later on they attacked Haifa, Acco (Acre), Carmiel, Nazareth etc, an area with population of more then million citizens. How come that the world has the cheek to condemn us for defending our lives?
We occupied the territories not because we were interested in controlling their population or in seizing territories, but because we were forced to it when the situation became unbearable and there was no other way to stop killing our citizens. We were of course condemned immediately and continuously. (Anybody remembers that Turkey occupies half Cyprus?) When several years ago our prime minister Ehud Barak decided to go towards the Palestinians as far as dividing Jerusalem, they did not suffice with that. They insisted on the right to “return” to Tel-Aviv and started the second blood-soaked intifada.
Until then the Israelis were divided into two groups, practically equivalent in size: One half claiming that the situation can not continue like this forever and that we should give a chance to peace by heavily compromising with the Palestinians. The other half claimed that Arabs understand only the language of power, that any agreement with them is worthless and any compromise would be the starting point of the next conflict. When Arafat rejected Barak’s outstanding offer, the majority of the Israeli population realized that the second group is probably right. Despite that, when Ariel Sharon, understanding that it is not possible to make an agreement with the Palestinians but it is also impossible to keep their territories, led the move of one-sided withdrawal from Gaza, the vast majority of Israelis supported him. When the independent Gaza had democratic elections, the extreme terrorist organization Hammas became the leading force. This result clearly indicates what the Palestinian people want. The last two generations were educated so by their leaders.
War is war. There is not a war without victims. The Israeli army was always highly moralistic. In Lebanon many of our soldiers fell because they did not shoot terrorists that took cover behind women and children. When the US troops revenged in Afghanistan the Al-Kaida’s attack on New-York, they did not give a damn about the civilians. Hizballa located itself among the population. I wonder if your TV shows the rocket launching platforms located between inhabited houses. Their headquarters with storage of ammunition and weapons was located in a hospital. Should this grant them immunity? In sake of lives, the Israeli Defense Forces take such unreasonable steps like calling by phone to houses that are going to be attacked, in order to allow the people to escape. Obviously the terrorists get the warnings as well. The Israeli army considers this situation preferable to killing civilians together with the terrorists.
Obviously mistakes can happen. It is a miracle that it happened only once so far, that tens of civilians were killed by a mistake. How many times this happened in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, by a mistake or on purpose? Who protested?
The difference between us and the Arabs is that if they stop fighting, there will be peace in the Middle East. If we stop fighting, there will be no Israel. Our conscience is clean. We have the right to live in peace, no less and perhapse more than any other nation.
Dear Tricia, I intend to send a copy of my letter to several people that may also be influenced by anti-Israeli propaganda that we here believe has its origins in anti-Semitism. Feel free to send it to more people if you think that what I expressed here is right.
You may want to have a look at these sites:
See that most of the world thinks that we should suffer being killed without reacting:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/14/mideast/index.html , Quickvote
See the opinion of a modern Arab woman on the Middle East conflict (from El Jazira TV):
http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=214&ar=1050wmv&ak=null
http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1050
Get an aproximate idea about the area of Israel under everyday attacks (Maalot, Karmiel, Nazareth and more missing from this map):
http://www.conceptwizard.com/n-israel.html
Love, Arie
Tel Aviv"
