The following is a letter sent by my relatives in Israel recently. I thought your readers might appreciate how one family feels about present circumstances over there. Their three sons are in the Israel Defence Forces reserves.
“Dear Senta and Peter,
“Thank you for calling us.
“Yes, we are again in war. I remember my mother saying during the Six Day War – when Rami served in the army and she helped me at home with the children who were very young – ‘This is not the last war.’ I was so angry and asked her, ‘How can you be so pessimistic?’ But she was right.
“I stopped counting the wars and all the military operations during the years. We are exhausted and hope there will be better times. But Islam has another point of view. Let us hope the world will understand us this time and will give the right support. Lea and Rami Be’eri, Netanya, Israel.”
Peter Gilbert
Toronto

For eight years, Hamas has fired thousands of rockets into Israel, into civilian zones. Israel has finally said, “Enough.”
Israel sent humanitarian aid into Gaza and dropped leaflets asking the civilians to evacuate certain areas before starting its land incursion to remove Hamas rocket-launching sites. Mosques and residential buildings have been found to house large caches of arms and explosives.
Since Hamas came to power in Gaza, it has built an infrastructure based on a military rather than a civilian foundation. If it was so concerned about the population of Gaza, why did Hamas not use its hundreds of tunnels from Egypt to transport food, water and medicine? Instead, the tunnels were used to smuggle in arms supplied by Iran.
What kind of governing body is Hamas to allow its people to go hungry so it can build rockets that it then hides in their homes. The civilians of Gaza are a human shield against any humane force that tries to remove Hamas from its enclave in the heart of the populace. Israel could eliminate the threat posed by Hamas easily. However, Israel tries to avoid civilian casualties.
Hamas has a death wish for Israel. Could this become the death knell for Hamas?
Harry J. Grunstein
Montreal

As soon as Israel attacks any of its adversaries (read Gaza), there should immediately be a rally in front of the enemy’s closest associate or surrogate embassies and consulates around the world. There are always photo-ops for anti-Semites and apologists and a disgusting percentage of left-wing press and sundry, sycophantic media in front of the Israeli (and Canadian, U.S., Australian) embassies, worldwide, no matter what day it is or who is being killed.   
What is happening is that when Israel tries to neutralize its enemies, there is damage and deaths, including, collaterally, women and children, and the press constantly shows videos and stills of these scenes, without giving the same exposure to outraged voices and emotions from the Jewish side for balance.
It is time we reversed the game plan and showed up to protest just as loudly as the other side does, not at the Israeli embassy, but at the doorstep of our indiscriminate killers’ and wounders’ representatives, so that the same press will be forced to cover the story created by us being in the opponent’s front yard, for a change, for all to see.  
If we defend ourselves but don’t protest and aren’t seen as suffering, and don’t get exposure for our plight, then we will continue to be thought of as arrogant and unconcerned about humanity. There has been an indoctrination perpetrated in front of us all by the newsbaggers who incessantly and obsessively, subliminally and overtly, carry the underdog message of the indigent Palestinians or the illegitimate mantra of the Arabs’ displacement, but not that of our Jews.
Victor Redlick
Toronto

I was at the demonstration in front of the Israeli consulate in Toronto on Dec. 28 and can testify to the presence of many Jews on the Palestinian side, as well as a group of Quakers (“Israeli offensive touches off protests in Canada,” CJN, Jan. 1). We weren’t noisy, but we were there.
In fact, we – a group of mostly Jewish women – have been holding a vigil in front of the Israeli consulate every Friday night for about eight years, against the occupation.
As for the pro-Israel side, I consider it highly significant that the only people who came out to defend the indefensible were members of the Jewish Defence League, and not even very many of them.
Elizabeth Block
Toronto