Bully of the Middle East

In 1967, Arab countries righteously got their butts kicked by the Israelis in the Six-Day War. This presented Israel with a golden opportunity to reach out to its defeated neighbors and try to achieve some sort of understanding and peaceful coexistence.

Instead, Israel chose intimidation and subjugation, and became what it still is today: the Bully of the Middle East.

Israel’s complaint that the Arab world denies its right to exist and would like to exterminate it is a mirror of Israel’s own attitude toward the Palestinians. The Israelis decry the suicide bombers and rocket attacks which take the lives of civilians. Yet, using far more sophisticated weapons, they have killed easily 10 times as many Palestinians, with equal disregard for innocents. The current “all-out” war on Hamas is almost illogical, for by its actions over the past four decades Israel has helped create Hamas.

U.S. peace efforts have been laughable. How do you broker an agreement between two warring factions while you are arming one of them? If we were serious about peace in the region, we would have cut or curtailed military aid to Israel long ago. It’s something to consider.

J.P. O’Shaughnessy

Spokane