Danny Wakil, Billinudgel
Gareth Smith is very good at selecting arguments that accord with his blinkered worldview, even if that means putting forward arguments that lack context or accuracy.
In his letter posted May 1, Gareth Smith fails to mention that deaths and injuries in 2014 were owing to an all-out war that was started by the Hamas terror organisation in Gaza. Hamas started the war by firing a huge volume of rockets into Israel over a number of days without Israel firing back until it was clear that Hamas had no intention to cease fire. As in any war in history, It is terrible that a number of civilians were killed and injured but even Hamas and the UN stated that a huge percentage were Hamas operatives and many more were civilians used as human shields, which was one of the many war crimes that Hamas has committed.
A large percentage of Palestinians hate Hamas and blame them for their living conditions. Many of them want to oust them from power but their protests are always met with crushing and murderous force as was the case in the past weeks. No anti Hamas expression is tolerated in Gaza.
Yes, there are a small number of anti-Israel Jews around the world but there are also millions of pro-Israel Muslims and Palestinians. Palestinians who are proud to be Israeli.
Use words that show context and a desire for peace. Have you ever considered those concepts, Gareth Smith?
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
