Any hopes that the Globe & Mail would resolve to be more even-handed
in its coverage of the Middle East must have been dashed when you selected
Joel Cuperfain's outrageous propaganda piece for your January 1 Letters
Page.
While Mr. Cuperfain paints a rosy picture of Israeli's benevolence towards
the Palestinians under their control, all the evidence from objective observers
suggests that, far from enjoying equality, the Palestinians suffer from
a host of grossly discriminatory measures. These include the very fundamental
right to citizenship which the Israeli government dispenses freely to all
professed Jewish immigrants (most of whom have no ancestral relationship
with Palestine) while denying citizenship to Palestinians who were born
there. Palestinians under Israeli control are denied freedom of expression,
freedom of movement and to a large extent economic freedom, including the
right to retain or purchase property. They have been deprived of water
for agricultural purposes and much of their land has been seized (in effect,
stolen) and placed at the disposal of foreign-born Jews.
In the circumstances, it is both ludicrous and deceitful to say that "the
only significant distinction between Israel's Jewish and non-Jewish citizens
is that Arabs are not required to serve in the Army."
As for the "guaranteed" religious rights, the State of Israel
has strenuously attempted to Judaize the Holy City of Jerusalem, beginning
with the execution of the elderly Christian Keeper of the Garden Tomb in
1967 (an atrocity, like most committed against Palestinians, ignored by
the Canadian media) and culminating with the creeping annexation of the
Christian Quarter and military occupation of other Christian centres such
as Bethlehem. Far worse has been the obliteration of hundreds of Christian
Arab villages to make way for Jewish settlers, a notorious example of which
was the Biblical village of Emmaeus (Emwas) which was demolished and the
residents killed or banished in an operation virtually identical to the
Nazi destruction of Lidice during World War II.
This reality may not constitute "discrimination" in Mr. Cuperfain's
vocabulary but I have yet to hear of the Israeli Government taking similar
measures against Jewish residents.
Sincerely,
Ian Macdonald
January 1, 1992