EDITOR:
In response to Mr. Mednick’s letter on April 13, he implies that a person has to be Jewish to be concerned about Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people. This conflict is not a religious conflict. The government of Israel, whose policies many of us abhor, is a very right-wing Zionist government. The conflict has been and is between Zionism and the indigenous peoples of Palestine. To equate Zionism with Judaism is to equate small ‘c’ conservatism or for that matter small ‘l’ liberalism with Christianity or Islam or Judaism.
Zionism is not a religion - it is political viewpoint which uses the Jewish faith to obtain its goals. Policies of oppression and dehumanization have no basis in the Jewish, Christian or Muslim faith. When we see oppression and dehumanization, we are called by our faith to oppose it. As Elie Wiesel said “Thou shalt not stand idly by.” To do so is to accept oppression and dehumanization. Richard, please keep writing.
Jim Wicks,
Charlottetown,
Islanders for a Just Peace in Palestine and Israel
