Regarding historical facts, and the letters of Benjamin Manea of March 29, answering Dave Cursons’ letter, “Talk focusses on Mideast.”
To begin with, historical facts are manipulatory and tend to live a hazy existence. One of Napoleon’s verdicts was, “History is a pack of lies mutually agreed upon.” And as far as the written word was concerned, he was known to quote, “He would rather face a 1,000 bayonets than four hostile newspapers.”
Let’s first look at the downtrodden people of the Gaza Strip. It is true that the Jewish settlements were removed, but at what price. The death toll in the thousands and the land, homes and infrastructure ruined and smashed, leaving the living in destitution, and not for the first time.
Whether the naval blockade was legal or not should be decided by the countries in the vicinity of Israel, not by a UN investigative committee. This leads to the question: since when is Israel concerned with UN decisions? For the past 50 years, Israel has rejected and boycotted UN resolutions in excess of 150 times to the chagrin of the rest of the world. Further on, are we seriously to believe that the leaders of the Gaza Strip are going to wipe out Israel with their atomic weaponry and most modern, well-trained army? Surely not. Not with their firecracker rockets and stone-throwing civilians, as fanatic as they may be.
While mentioning what Mr. Manea calls the mayhem and massacres in Europe during the last war, there is no doubt that the Jewish people were experiencing great sufferings and wrongs at the hands of the Nazis. But for mayhem and massacres, I would first call on the Russian and Chinese people, they were the true sufferers during these periods.
In closing this subject, in part I wish to say that I fully agree with Mr. Manea’s train of thought that no group of people killed and murdered more human beings during the past 2,000 years than the white Christians.
I almost forgot, and must apologize for my ignorance in missing and not knowing regarding the Jews being burned alive throughout Europe, as quoted by Mr. Manea. This ultimate atrocity, among other unspeakable cruelties, was actually only performed at the liberation of the city of Prague in Czechoslovakia during the month of May in 1945, when dozens of Germans were hanged upside down on lamp posts alive, and then set on fire.
Well Mr. Manea, I hope that I will not be branded an anti-Semite for this journey through myth, lies and history. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Even in a minority of one, the truth is still the truth.”
Karl Kneis
Penticton