Stop shooting at Israelis and they will stop shooting back
19 February 2025 - 16:31
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Gunvant Govindjee displays incredible ignorance by likening Israel to European settler colonies (“Remove Zionists from Middle East”, February 11).
Many Israelis can trace their families back hundreds, if not thousands, of years in the region. Just because these Israelis were joined by mass migrations fleeing true genocides in Europe doesn’t make Israel a settler colony.
Genetic, archaeological and historical evidence all points to the Hebrew people maintaining an unbroken claim to the lands of Israel. If anything, the Jews of the region are victims of colonialism themselves. Their temples and settlements have been repeatedly destroyed and sacked — by the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Crusaders and Turks.
There is also an incredible irony accusing Zionism of genocide and then calling for Zionists to be expelled from the Middle East. Zionism is the simple idea that Israel deserves to exist. By virtue of being an Israeli who wants to be an Israeli, all Israelis are Zionists.
Govindjee’s letter is calling for the expulsion of about 9.7-million so-called Zionists. How is that not tantamount to the ethnic cleansing and forced removals he is condemning? Israelis don’t want to expel Gazans. Israel created Gaza in 2005 to be an independent Palestinian state. It didn’t have to do that.
Gaza used its independence to build weapons and train troops to wage a genocidal war against Israel. Hamas’ genocidal ideology is well documented and professed. Independence and prosperity are not a priority. The deaths of Jews are all they care about.
Do not lump normal Israelis and Zionists with Trump’s signature hyperbolic intimidation tactics. Israel just wants peace, and to guarantee the survival of its people. Stop shooting at them and they’ll stop shooting back.
Nicholas Woode-Smith Cape Town
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Israel wants peace
Stop shooting at Israelis and they will stop shooting back
Gunvant Govindjee displays incredible ignorance by likening Israel to European settler colonies (“Remove Zionists from Middle East”, February 11).
Many Israelis can trace their families back hundreds, if not thousands, of years in the region. Just because these Israelis were joined by mass migrations fleeing true genocides in Europe doesn’t make Israel a settler colony.
Genetic, archaeological and historical evidence all points to the Hebrew people maintaining an unbroken claim to the lands of Israel. If anything, the Jews of the region are victims of colonialism themselves. Their temples and settlements have been repeatedly destroyed and sacked — by the Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Crusaders and Turks.
There is also an incredible irony accusing Zionism of genocide and then calling for Zionists to be expelled from the Middle East. Zionism is the simple idea that Israel deserves to exist. By virtue of being an Israeli who wants to be an Israeli, all Israelis are Zionists.
Govindjee’s letter is calling for the expulsion of about 9.7-million so-called Zionists. How is that not tantamount to the ethnic cleansing and forced removals he is condemning? Israelis don’t want to expel Gazans. Israel created Gaza in 2005 to be an independent Palestinian state. It didn’t have to do that.
Gaza used its independence to build weapons and train troops to wage a genocidal war against Israel. Hamas’ genocidal ideology is well documented and professed. Independence and prosperity are not a priority. The deaths of Jews are all they care about.
Do not lump normal Israelis and Zionists with Trump’s signature hyperbolic intimidation tactics. Israel just wants peace, and to guarantee the survival of its people. Stop shooting at them and they’ll stop shooting back.
Nicholas Woode-Smith
Cape Town
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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