Foreign Correspondence

[Ace Hanlon]

As a Jew I have long been deeply troubled by the brutal Zionist persecution and displacement of the Palestinians which has been going on for nearly 60 years now.

But more recently I have been doubly shocked that the Jews have done this before. Jewish scripture speaks of an ancient people (the Amalkites if memory serves) whom the Israelites exterminated completely on "God's" orders because they attacked Jewish tribes who wanted to settle in the promised land and displace them after leaving Egypt.

And I was triply shocked when the conservative rabbi of our temple (a strong Sharon supporter) gave a sermon comparing Hamas to these ancient Amalkites leaving the strong impression than no act of murder or genocide should be ruled out in dealing with them.