In his commentary published last Sunday, Marc Champion painted a bucolic picture of Gaza that he visited two months ago, writing that “when an attack on Israel resulted in unimaginable grief for Gazans,” life as he knew it in Gaza was destroyed. (“Amid Israel-Hamas war, some still see a path to coexistence,” Nov. 5)

He neglected to write that under the “vibrant cafes” of Gaza lies a warren of some 300 miles of tunnels and hiding places under mosques, hospitals and schools where Hamas (nowhere mentioned in his opinion piece) stored weapons and plotted to kill Jews. Tunnels, constructed with the knowledge of Gazans.

He states that Palestinians cannot be spared the horrors unfolding around them. He nowhere mentions the over 200 hostages: babies, the elderly, young and old, who are being held against their will below the ground, where Mr. Champion visited two months ago. Did he know about those tunnels?

He nowhere mentions that Hamas is cowardly, using the Palestinians as human shields, too afraid to continue the fight in the open that they started when they shot children in front of their parents, parents in front of their children, riddled babies with bullets, raped women and mowed down hundreds of peaceful partygoers.

He fails to point out that the war could stop tomorrow if Hamas came out from behind its hiding places and surrendered.

Champion should be lamenting the oppression by Hamas of the Palestinians. Only when Hamas is gone can laughter return to Gaza.

Sam Rudman
Falmouth

Copy the Story Link