By Rochelle Kochin, , Seattle
Akiva Segan says it is inflammatory to use words such as “unspeakable evil” and “savage” to describe the terrorists who entered the home of a young Israeli family in the middle of the night and stabbed to death the parents and three of the children including a 1-month-old baby girl. (“Inflammatory Words,” Letters, April 1.) If Segan cannot see the evil in their actions, then he must have no moral compass.
Segan says there is no difference between these intentional murders and the deaths of Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli missiles targeting Hamas. It is interesting that just this past week, Richard Goldstone, the chair of the committee that originally criticized Israel’s actions in Gaza, published a letter in the Washington Post “reconsidering” his own report. He says that subsequent investigations show “that civilians were not intentionally targeted [by Israel] as a matter of policy” and “that the crimes allegedly committed by Hamas were intentional goes without saying — its rockets were purposefully and indiscriminately aimed at civilian targets.” He also states that Israel has an obligation to defend its citizens.
I understand that Segan wants to obfuscate the facts and suspend moral judgment in his blind defense of terrorists. What I do not understand is why the JTNews found it necessary to print his letter.