Letter from Israel: The cowardice of Zionism

We received this letter from Israel, which makes some interesting comments on Netanyahu’s latest attack on Gaza.

Dear comrades,

Netanyahu like a spoilt child has once again initiated rocket attacks from Gaza on Sothern Israel because he can’t attack Iran’s nuclear installations... We have to ask ourselves some questions. First: Who is he attacking, and who are the victims?

Gaza is the most densely populated stretch of land on earth. Its people are the poorest in the region that includes Israel. They have massive unemployment. While Israel steals Palestinian water from the West Bank, Palestinians in Gaza have no clean water. Poor families are forced to buy contaminated filthy water that causes Cholera from unscrupulous vendors.

Israel does of course say it is Hamas who are to blame, but Hamas were elected democratically. Is that not what the USA is always going on about, “We want democracy in The Middle East”? But democracy is only “Democracy” when it is the type that complies with America, and Israel’s wishes.

We will soon see how in what light the new democratic Egypt will be received when it finally forms its government. We know it will have an Islamic party at its head. Who have already stated they will want to renegotiate the Peace Treaty with Israel. The Islamic Brotherhood will be the largest party in the new Egyptian government, it is a populist party, and we know that the present Peace Treaty with Egypt negotiated under the former Egyptian dictatorships was widely hated by the masses in Egypt.

The rockets that are fired from the Gaza Strip are wildly inaccurate. They fall mostly on open ground, but when they do find a target in Ashdod, or as they have today (Sunday 11/03/12) on Be'er Sheva, the victims just like in Gaza are the poor. The descendants of the Jews from Arab states that were sent there when the Jewish state was first founded, or the New Immigrants from the former Soviet Union. As in Gaza, there is high unemployment compared to the super affluent centre of Israel. Crime, as in any deprived area, is rife, so is alcoholism, drug taking, and all that it spurns.

The Iron Dome rocket interception system

To counter the home made rockets, Israel has built a short range interception system called Iron Dome. Total investment in this system is US$50,000,000. Each missile costs US$40,000. In May 2011 President Obama asked, and got US$205 million for the further development, and deployment of the Iron Dome system. On May 9, 2011, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, reported that Defense Ministry director general Maj. Gen. (res.) Udi Shani said that Israel plans to invest nearly US$1billion in the coming years for the development and production of Iron Dome batteries.

Comrades please consider the figures quoted here. They are astronomical, when compared to the costs of the Gazan homemade Qassam rockets that have only a short range of a few kilometres. Surely it would be better to invest all these millions of dollars in the poverty of the south of Israel where the rockets fall.

What caused this new spate of rocket attacks?

Last week the IDF [Israel Defence Force] took out a prominent member of an Islamic “terror” group, knowing full well that the consequences of this action would lead to rockets falling on the southern part of Israel close to the Gaza Strip.

Israel routinely eliminates these people, saying it ensures Israel’s security. This reminds me of a fair ground shooting gallery, as soon as you shoot one figure down, another one pops up. So how many of these leaders will Israel have to eliminate, before Israel is secure?

Zionism is an outdated ideology; it belongs to the 19^th century where it was conceived. It is the ideology of colonialism, of acquiring territory. How ironic that the only country that still pursues this outdated, twisted ideology, is a country founded as a refuge from the tyranny of others, who had learned the lesson that imperialism only brings death, and destruction, who now live in relative peace with one an other.

It is only when we all recognize that we are all the same, that the resources of the planet belong to all, not for the benefit of some, and to be denied to the masses, will we have peace and justice for all. If any one should need reminding it is called Socialism!

Comradely,

Asher Levy, March 11, 2012