Too much anti-Israel rhetoric

Editor: I would not usually consider spending the time to respond to the political antics of people like Svend Robinson. On the other hand, since the JWB (June 21) chose to provide him with a full page to reach our community, some of his comments do require a response.

His letter opens with the comment that he is not an anti-Semite, and that his family helped save Jewish lives during the Second World War. While his family's actions may be commendable, they are not relevant with regards to the topic at hand, and certainly do not provide Mr. Robinson with carte blanche vis-à-vis world Jewry.

The letter then proceeds to perpetuate the usual anti-Israel propaganda designed to delegitimize Israel and her leaders. The comments about "settlements" were addressed by another article in the same issue. The nonsense about Mr. Sharon and the Lebanon deaths are unfortunate. Mr. Robinson should review the American court decision against Time magazine. There appears to be a lack of understanding of the issues and of the history. More disturbing is the relative lack of outrage at the ongoing horrific murders and terrorist attacks by Yasser Arafat's disciples, and the outrageous comment about "as the loss of innocent Palestinian lives increases, along with Israeli civilian casualties" suggests that only Israeli "civilian" deaths are of concern. Most disturbing is the comment that suggests that Israel's military actions are "terrorist" in nature and somehow equivalent to the actions of the suicide bombers!

Mr. Robinson clearly has chosen sides in this dispute/war. Many prominent members of his own party were publicly upset by his recent trip to Israel. The JWB should not provide any more space to publish this sort of anti-Israel rhetoric.

Jeffrey Blicker
Vancouver