Peter Nazzal missed a fundamental point in his Tuesday letter to the editor titled "Palestinian supporters not ignorant, should speak up," by failing to acknowledge that by ousting Hamas from power in Gaza, Israel is helping the Palestinian people.
Nazzal seems to forget that in the summer of 2005, Israel unilaterally pulled out every last settler and soldier from the Gaza Strip. This ended checkpoints and gave the Palestinians an opportunity to behave themselves â€" paving the way for full control of their borders and an eventual peace agreement.
Rather than take the withdrawal as a sign of good will, the rockets began raining down on Israeli border towns in higher numbers and from closer range than before, causing a million and a half Israelis to constantly keep one eye on the nearest bomb shelter.
The rocket barrages only increased after Hamas rose to power, which then led to the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.
It's very simple â€" if Hamas renounces violence and recognizes the right of the Jewish people to live in their own state in their ancestral homeland, peace would be within the Palestinians' grasp.
Hamas might also be of help to the Palestinians if, instead of raiding humanitarian aid convoys and selling the goods for a higher price in order to buy more weapons, they let the aid get to the people who actually need it.
