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A woman, whose mother and niece were killed in Hamas’ attack on October 7, cries in the burned-out remains of her mother’s home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, in southern Israel, on October 30. Three members of the family - two children and their father - have been kidnapped. Photo: Reuters
OpinionLetters

Letters | Arab leaders must condemn Hamas unequivocally for attack on Israel

  • Readers discuss the response of Arab states to the violence Hamas unleashed on Israel, and the need for better global leadership
Israel-Gaza war
Letters
Letters
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The news media is full of reports and images of suffering people in the Gaza Strip, victims of Israeli bombings. The images are heart-rending. Many Arab leaders have condemned the bombings in Gaza and focused on the humanitarian crisis.
However, most Arab leaders have refrained from calling out Hamas for the initial, unwarranted attack on Israeli civilians. What was the need for a guerilla attack on civilians in a kibbutz? Humaneness should run both ways, irrespective of nationality or religion.
Arab leaders need a rethink. They should discourage militant organisations like Hamas and Hezbollah. They need to denounce violence in an unequivocal manner. They must admit the initial attack by Hamas on October 7 was a blunder and unwarranted.
Arab leaders should also put pressure on Hamas to return all the hostages. This will increase their credibility.

Israel is unlikely to finish off Hamas, despite what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asserted. Hamas is not merely an organisation. It is an idea – that Israeli land belongs to Palestinians.

Hamas and Palestinians may feel that the land of Israel belongs to them. But did the attack on October 7 helped their cause? The attacks on innocent people have only strengthened Israel’s resolve to vanquish Hamas.

Correspondingly, Israel cannot just be wished away. It is a member of the United Nations. It also has powerful friends. Israel has strong support from the United States and many European nations.

For decades, Palestinians have conducted terrorist attacks against Israelis, including the horrible massacre during the Munich Olympics in 1972, to little avail. It has only made Israel more resolute.

Israelis and Palestinians have to learn to coexist.

Rajendra Aneja, Mumbai

Human divisions go against our genetic make-up

The horrifying news coming out of the Middle East in the past weeks reminds me of the famous Human Genome Project conducted by scientists some 20 years ago, in which one of the findings was that all human beings share a genetic make-up that is roughly 99 per cent identical.

We are all breathing the same air. Yet ethnic, religious, ideological and cultural differences have historically created an ever divided world. Recent geopolitical rivalry has also prevented nations from addressing issues affecting the future of our planet such as climate change, poverty, wealth inequality and food shortages.

We are in urgent need of creating a better environment so that more enlightened people can be encouraged to assume global leadership positions. We tend to have rankings in many areas. Perhaps we should rank the political leaders and systems around the world.

We must stop the trend of creating blocs, otherwise future generations may face serious racial conflicts on a global scale.

Paul M.F. Cheng, Mid-Levels

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