Give Israel a break

On Sunday, Sept. 13, you printed a letter by Wayne Kraft. In it, he calls for boycotts and sanctions against Israel. He even went so far as to accuse them of “war crimes.”

In 1947, the United Nations resolved to partition off part of the recently fallen Turkish empire. One parcel was to be given to the Jews. Another was to be given to Palestinians. The Palestinians rejected their lot. A year later, they declared jihad on the newly resurrected nation of Israel. In 1967, Israel was granted access to Jerusalem. The next day, the Palestinians again declared war. The combined armies of Egypt, Syria and Palestine suffered terrible losses. As a result, Israel gained new land that otherwise would have gone to Palestine.

Over the past 61 years, Israel has been under constant attack. Thanks to people like our president, they have seen their borders shrink by 18 percent. In the future, they can look forward to more of this, plus a massive campaign of annihilation led by Russia and Ethiopia.

Israel is the only Middle Eastern nation that allows Jews and Arabs to coexist as equals. They are one of our closest allies. They don’t deserve Kraft’s condemnation.

Douglas R. Benn

Spokane