Of shame, distortions and polemical diversions

9 05 am Jan 16 2012

Shame on you Steven Harwood - for  using the 'shame - on - you' moniker against the esteemed Greg Sheridan.

 

It is so easy to  distort Israel's democratic record on every line your letter occupies: so prolix to debunk in the few words allowed in such a rejoinder. And worse - if it is published at all - it will not persuade the willfully blind such as you and  your acolytes.

 

It is the alleged settlement expansion, 'hate' crimes, exclusion of women  that get to me: so glibly you write gibberish -  not holding yourself accountable for what you claim.

 

Inveterate, inverted inanities only get published to offer 'balance' to those who scream bias whenever their rants are ignored.

History and reality betray you, however.

 

 

• You ignore Israel's multifarious pleading to be left in peace - you ramble on with 'settlement expansion'. Which country would tolerate antagonists stopping building activity - that you thus reconfigure with the favourite line of the left?
•  Hate crimes? What could compare with the Palestinian hate crimes esconsed in all their constitutions?
• Exclusion of women? Why doth thou not contemplate the acid throwers and murders of Islamic women - commonly practised by their Palestinian and Muslim  brothers and fathers? And women themselves mutilate their daughters. Ugh!
• Anti - democratic bills? Puhleez: the Middle East's only democracy compared with the rule of the lash, the sword - and recently the suicide murderer. I yearn for the days when they merely hijacked aircraft.

 

Shame on you Steven Haywood.

 

Geoff Seidner
13 Alston Grove
East St Kilda 3183
03 9525 9299

 

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in·vet·er·ate/inˈvetərit/

Adjective:

Having a particular habit, activity, or interest that is long-established and unlikely to change. (of a feeling or habit) Long-established and unlikely to change.

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Iran 'menace' still with us

The Australian January 16 2012

AN exclusive interview with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu makes great copy for any newcomer to the subject of Israeli/Palestinian relations ("Making his case on Iran's menace", 14-15/1), but nothing new has emerged.

Despite all the appeals for peace, the Israelis know they will have to return much of the land they have taken since 1967 and agree to the repatriation of Palestinian refugees now in Lebanon, if they want genuine peace. This they will never do while they have the support of the US.

As for condemning Iran's nuclear ambitions, Mr Netanyahu is right. But will he admit that Israel also has a vast store of nuclear weapons and agree to sign the non-proliferation treaty? Unlikely. That's why Iran claims a moral right to have the same.

Doug Cadioli, Victoria Point, Qld

As Israel's PM, Mr Netanyahu has a lot to answer for; continued settlement expansion, a rash of anti-democratic bills, attempts to exclude women from civil society and a spate of unsolved hate-crimes targeting Muslims, all on his shift. Greg Sheridan didn't ask those questions, and that's why he was given access to the affable Bibi. Shame on you, Greg.

Steven Harwood, Jerusalem