In response to “Guest Column: For youth of Gaza, tackle root causes of Israel conflict” (by Britain Eakin, Nov. 27):

I loved the fact that you emphasize we need to get to the root causes of the conflict as well as recognizing that neither Israel nor the Palestinians are on equal footing. Israel is quite certainly the occupier while Palestine is the occupied. Not to mention a siege is being waged on Gaza and that does not seem to be shown the media.

U.S. politicians seem to think that you can send money to Israel blindly and not look at the effect it has on the Palestinians living under a siege. No one is suggesting they should not be Israel’s ally but there need to be conditions on the aid they give them, such as following international law.

— SA

I find it hard to believe that a country that gives full rights to its Arab citizens is one that denies it to an entire people.

I will agree with you, the blockade is devastating to Gaza, but so are the terror attacks coming from the region. The elementary mistake here is to assume that if the Israeli side were to lift the blockade and not protect its borders that this entire conflict would cease to be a conflict. If you haven’t read Hamas’ charter, it very clearly says that the entire land of Israel/Palestine is to be taken back by killing the Jews (not Israelis) who inhabit it.

Thus, it’s ironic that you claim the Israelis are responsible for ethnic cleansing when it is very clearly defined in the charter of the ruling organization in the Gaza Strip. Your mistake is assuming that Israel’s problem with Gaza is Palestinians, when it is, in fact, Hamas.

— Alec

But what is the origin of Hamas? This is precisely Britain’s key point. There’s a history to everything that’s happening in Gaza today, but it’s reported as shallow, tit-for-tat nonsense in the U.S. media. Hamas, however you feel about them, sprang from a profoundly unjust circumstance.

The goal should be to address injustice, not its consequences.

— murphywoodhouse

Well said, Britain. Thanks for shedding light on the reality of the situation in Palestine. The Israeli government has been rounding up Palestinians and throwing them behind “security fences,” enforcing segregated roads, maintaining a six year blockade on Gaza, etc.

Israelis do not want to deal with the situation directly. They mistakenly believe that if they simply cannot see the Palestinians, then the “problem” will solve itself. This is proving to be erroneous more than ever today. _{in solidarity}

— Noel Rose

In response to “Group gives Mall presentation on history of Thanksgiving, offends some students” (by Stephanie Casanova and Kyle Wasson, Nov. 21):

If you think this pageant misrepresents the historical role of the American Indian in Thanksgiving then at least write a factual and logical historical argument as to why it’s offensive and inaccurate. I would probably agree. But just complaining that you’re offended is intellectually lazy and the opposite of courageous.

Why don’t you put on your own Thanksgiving pageant that tells the story you want? Because that involves hard work and planning. It’s much easier in today’s society to criticize someone else’s hard work as “offensive” and get free newspaper publicity for it.

Part of what separates an adult from a child emotionally and intellectually is the understanding that just because you throw a tantrum does not mean the rest of the world has an obligation to coddle and soothe you.

— depri