OnTheWight always welcomes a Letter to the Editor to share with our readers – unsurprisingly they don’t always reflect the views of this publication. If you have something you’d like to share, get in touch and of course, your considered comments are welcome below.
This from Maggie Nelmes, Ventnor. Ed
Two years ago, the Zionist government of Israel reacted to a horrific terrorist attack by ordering the systematic bombardment of Gaza, destroying nearly all homes and public buildings. More than sixty-six thousand people have been killed, and many more devastatingly injured or disappeared, many buried under the rubble of collapsed buildings. Every single one of these individuals had hopes, dreams, loved ones, a future.
Victims of genocide
Whether they died in bombing or drone attacks, were gunned down as they queued for food or medicines, or died of starvation, humanitarian organisations such as Amnesty International and the UN agree, they were all victims of genocide.
Yet Israel could not have carried out these atrocities without our government’s connivance: licensing the exportation of components made in factories in this country to Israel for assembly into fighter jets, sending RAF planes on reconnaissance flights over Gaza to gather intelligence for the Israeli army.
Surveillance and spyware
A powerful and useful ally for the UK in the Middle East, Israel is a leader in the field of spyware and surveillance technology. American spyware company Palantir operates there, while also creating a massive database of our NHS records.
Surveillance is a fast-growing industry, penetrating more and more aspects of our daily lives, from facial recognition in supermarket check-out machines to planned identity cards.
Persecuted since 1947-48
Israel’s persecution of the Palestinian people started at its founding in 1947-48. Zionist settlers forced thousands of Palestinian families from their homes and lands at gunpoint.
They’ve done so ever since, with military backing, bulldozing many villages in the illegally occupied Palestinian West Bank.
A system of apartheid
Israel operates an apartheid system: banning Palestinians from driving on the highways, making them wait for hours at checkpoints on their way to work, allegedly arresting and imprisoning thousands of mainly men and boys on trumped-up or no charges and torturing them.
