From: Ismail Zayid

To: Globe & Mail

Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 9:03 AM

Subject: A call for justice.

Canada Palestine Association,

POBox 1085,

Halifax, NS, B3J 2X1

May 16, 2006

The Editor,

The Globe & Mail

Dear Editor:

Marcus Gee, in his artcile:{"The Middle East's eternal optimist" May 16}, presents, again, his one-sided view of the Palestine/Israel conflict. The optimism that Shimon Peres expresses requires action and not mere words. Shimon Peres was instrumental in the the approval of the Oslo Accord, but proceeded immediately to dismantle it by continuing the creation of illegal settlements, in violation of the terms and the spirit of the Accord. As Marcus Gee states, Peres was instrumental in the Israeli nuclear weapons program and the creation of the illegal settlements on the illegally occupied Palestinian territory, not to mention the massacres under his rule, including the Qana massacre at the UN centre in South Lebanon.

Marcus Gee speaks of Palestinian terrorism, but forgets that Israel and the terrorist gangs that formulated it created terrorism in the Middle East and Israeli state terrorism continues to this day, including the use of chemical weapons against Hamas activists, as in the attempt against Khalid Meshal in Amman, authorised in 1997 by Israeli prime minister Netanyahu, and the recent use of poisoned chocolate against another activist, as reported in the G&M recently. There is no mention of the Israeli practices in the Occupied Territories, that stand in violation of virtually every article of the Fourth Geneva Convention, including extra-judicial assassination, torture, daily humiiation, denial of health care, demolition of thousands of homes and the expropriation of territory for the creation of illegal Jewish colonies[settlements]. These violations are defined by international law as war crimes.

Marcus Gee speaks of the Arab armies invading Israel in 1948. Before a single Arab soldier entered Palestine on May 15, 1948, the Zionist forces had already expelled over 300,000 Palestinians from their homes and occupied scores of Arab towns and cities, including Jaffa and Acre, apportioned for the Arab state in the UN Partition resolution #18, and threatened to occupy more land and to complete the Zionist program of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians from their homeland.

It is true that Arabs and Jews can live together in peace in the Holy Land, and they should. They have done that for centuries, untill the introduction of Zionism in the area. A testimony for that is the statement made by Chaim Weizmann, Israel's first prime minister, who stated before the Anglo- American Committe of Enquiry, in Jerusalem in 1946, where he stated: " I would not like to do any injustice. The Muslim world has treated the Jews with considerable tolerance. The Ottoman Empire {of which the Arabs were a major part} received the Jews with open arms when they were driven out of Spain and Europe, and the Jews should never forget that." Unfortunately, many have forgotten that.

Peace can be achieved for Israelis and Palestinians, But this requires Israeli compliance with international law and UN resolutions, including complete termination of its illegal occupation of Palestinian land that has been allowed to stand for 39 years, in defiance of international law and repeated Security Council resolutions.

The Palestinian people are calling for a modicum of justice, for without justice, there will be no peace for Arab or Jew in the Middle East.

Sincerely,

Ismail Zayid, MD.

President, Canada Palestine Association.