From: Ismail Zayid

To: MGee@GlobeAndMail.ca ; Globe & Mail

Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 11:58 AM

Subject: What about Israeli extremism?

Canada Palestine Association,

P.O.Box, 1085,

Halifax, NS, B3J 2X1

Jan. 24, 2007

The Editor,

The Globe & Mail

Dear Editor:

Barry Rubin's charade is laden with falsehoods {"Paying the price of extremism" Jan. 24}.The acts of terrorism by Palestinians are miniscule compared to the state terrorism practised by Israel. Terrorism in the Middle East was created by the Zioinst terrorist gangs that preceeded the creation of Israel and was continued by Israel on an extensive pace thoughout the Middle East and Europe. Records of this are in volumes. As to threats of genocide and expulsion of Jews, it is the state of Israel that has effected the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homeland in 1948 and 1967, and continues to deny them the right of return to their homes, as asserted in the Universal Declaration of Human rights, and repeated UN resolutions. The threat of ethnic cleansing and genocide against Palestinians, including even Israel's own Muslim and Christian citizens, is proclaimed by none other than Israel's current deputy prime minister, Mr. Liebermann, amongst other Israeli leaders. Rafael Eitan stated: " We declare openly that the Arabs have no right to settle on even one centimeter of Eretz Israel....We shall use the ultimate force until the Palestinians come crawling to us on all fours." { Rafael Eitan, Israeli Army Chief of Staff, 1983.} [Quoted by Rachelle Marshall in Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Jan./Feb. 2007]. The claim that Christians in Palestine are threatened by Muslims is baseless. The Bishop of Gaza stated recently that Chistians live in peace with their Muslim brothers and their suffering is a direct oucome of oppresive Israeli occupation.

Mr. Rubin states that "Hamas explicitly rejected the 1993 Oslo agreement and the peace process..." Hamas was elected 13 years after the Oslo agreement, so why was that agreement not implemenmted before that? It was the Israeli government which violated every article of this agreement since then. 

He states: " Finally, helping Hamas makes it harder to have peace in the Middle East." There has been no peace in the Middle East for generations, long before Hamas came into being, and this is the direct outcome of Israeli policies including violation of international law, expansionism and repeated wars of aggression against its neighbours, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, in 1956, 1967, 1978, 1982, as well as illegal occupation of Palestinian and Syrian territory for 40 years, in defiance of international law and repeated Security Council resolutions. Israeli brutal practices, during this illegal occupation, have included extra-judicial assassination, holding thousands of prisoners for years without charge or trial, torture, daily humiliation, denial of health care and expropriation of property for the creation of illegal colonies [settlements]. All these acts are in violation of virtually every article of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and are defined by international law as war crimes.

Finally, there can be peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians in this tortured land if Israel is made to comply with international law and UN resolutions and completely terminate its illegal occupation of Palestinian and Syrian land. The call on Israeli apologists, and all of us, is to plead with the international community, including our own Canadian government, to demand that Israel should comply with international law.

Yours sincerely,

Ismail Zayid, MD.

President, Canada Palestine Association.