Felice Gelman of Wespac and the Free Gaza Movement sent the following letter to the public editor of the Times:
The NY Times never ceases to amaze with its casual adoption of mythology as fact. From your article this morning on American Jews becoming more critical of the actions of the Israeli government: “You know, the Israelis are not the ones launching rockets and placing fighters in houses with children inside.” Actually, the Goldstone Report on Operation Cast Lead cites instances of Israeli soldiers using Palestinian human shields and invading homes with children inside. (Page 19, page 180, page 280 et seq.) On the other hand, it was not able to document instances of Hamas fighters using human shields. (Page 145 – 146) In addition, although Palestinians in Gaza have certainly fired rockets at Israeli territory, Israel itself fired a far greater number of rockets at Gaza and its civilian population during Operation Cast Lead. The Goldstone Report and its conclusions are hardly unknown to anyone with an interest in the Israel Palestine conflict. Therefore, one cannot credibly say that Israelis are not the ones launching rockets, nor can one say they are not the ones placing fighters in houses with children inside. I’m sure your reporters are at least as well informed as I am. Don’t you think it would be helpful for your readers for the New York Times report the simple facts of the conflict accurately rather than just parroting PR spin? Can you at least let me know that you have brought this to the attention of the editors?
