Cyril Olsen claims I am not telling the whole truth about the genocide in Palestine because I didn’t include a history lesson in my letter. There is a limit to what you can write in 300 words! I won’t have room to reply to all his points so I will concentrate on one, which is the often repeated mantra that Hamas uses a military tactic of having bases within the civilian population, making them difficult to target. This is the excuse Israel has used for the genocide they are conducting, bombing residential blocks of flats, hospitals, schools, churches and mosques killing over 4100 people, many of whom are women and children.
To help readers understand this here is a quick Geography lesson. The Gaza Strip has an area of just 140 square miles. This is a lot smaller than the area of Doncaster, but a bit bigger than Barnsley. The population of Gaza is 2.3 million which is far greater than South Yorkshire and roughly the same as West Yorkshire. So if you imagine all the people of Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Wakefield etc moving to Barnsley you will have some idea of how densely packed with people the Gaza Strip is. That was before half of them were ordered to evacuate and move to the southern half of the strip. This tiny area is in effect an open prison. To expect Hamas to somehow build military camps away from the rest of the population is ridiculous. Unlike Israel, they have no tanks, warships, nuclear bombs or jet fighters.
Of course, I condemn the brutal acts of Hamas. But my letter is calling for our country to stop actively supporting the genocide Israel is carrying out. We support Israel at International conventions, by selling them arms, by using our warships and repeating their propaganda. This must stop.
Does Mr Olsen call for the genocide to stop? Peace will only be achieved by a political solution to end the occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people.
Grtaham Wroe
Here is Cyril Olsen’s letter, in reply to mine which is here.
This Double Down News video answers the rest of Cyril Olsens points very well. There are some very upsetting scenes in this video.
Tell the Truth Sheffield 