Credit: Matt Golding
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Enough is enough
Those photos, those stories in TheAge in the last week and the Wilcox cartoon of Gaza, of children starving to death, people dying in the attempt to get food – enough.
It is unforgivable that we continue to stand by and do virtually nothing. I don’t care whether you call it genocide, I don’t care whether you call me antisemitic – I am not, but the killing must stop now. Benjamin Netanyahu must be stopped. If the only real tool of influence we have at our disposal is sanctions, then use them Anthony Albanese.
Not only are innocents dying daily, but generational hatred is being cultivated. The Palestinians who manage to live will never forget. Hate will continue to grow exponentially, babies and children will continue to die meaningless slow and horrible deaths, and our world is in deadly peril.
Please, our wise and cautious leaders, do something substantive.
Karen Morris, Newport
This is hatred
High school students verbally attacking primary school children with hateful comments in a public area: if that is not antisemitism, racism and pure ignorant hatred, then I don’t know what is.
Marie Nash, Balwyn
Israel the problem . . .
Your correspondent (Letters, 26/7) claims the crisis in Gaza is of Hamas’s making.
Apparently, the real problem is that Hamas won’t surrender, not the siege imposed by Israel. Not the bombed hospitals. Not the people who die while collecting food. Not the blockade on baby formula. Just Hamas.
But let’s be clear: This is not a war between equals. Israel is one of the most advanced militaries on Earth unleashing its power on a captive population.
It is Israel that controls Gaza’s borders, and blocks humanitarian aid. It is Israel that has killed tens of thousands, levelled cities, and made famine a weapon of war. Pointing the finger at Hamas while babies die of hunger under siege is not just misdirection – it is moral cowardice.
Pressure should go where the power lies. And in this case, that’s not Hamas.
Nadia Green, Sunshine North
. . . And the solution
Your correspondent (Letters, 26/7) completely misses the point. There is starvation in Gaza and it is Israel causing the starvation through its blockade, and only Israel can end the blockade.
Whether there is a ceasefire or not, or whether Hamas goes to Qatar is irrelevant; food, medicine, water and fuel can be let into Gaza today to feed the starving people, but Israel is stopping it.
Anastasios Moralis, Ormond
Follow France example
Israel will continue its deadly actions in Gaza and the West Bank until it is prevented from doing so. Australia should stand with France and the other countries who recognise the state of Palestine. Yes, it’s a symbolic gesture, but it also offers a pathway to peace.
Elizabeth Sime, Fitzroy North
Starvation as policy
According to your correspondent (Letters, 26/7), the reason Palestinians are starving is because Hamas won’t surrender. It’s a neat explanation. It also lets Israel off the hook.
But facts don’t bend so easily. Israel controls the airspace, the borders, the sea. It controls what food gets in – and what doesn’t. Israel has bombed bakeries, destroyed farms, and blocked humanitarian aid.
We can debate ceasefire terms, but let’s not pretend the famine in Gaza is the unintended consequence of war. This is policy. And no government should be allowed to starve civilians into submission – no matter who they’re fighting.
Lila Malagi, Flinders
The trouble with normal
In reference to the article Global Warning (Good Weekend, 26/7) about the destruction of the world, there is another aspect. Growing equality has meant that now almost everyone has a car (the bigger, the better). Flying and international travel has increased to such a degree, that “over tourism” is destroying many places, it is no longer just for the wealthy.
Central heating and air conditioning have become normalised and expected, rather than just for the wealthy. The overconsumption of clothing in the throwaway society is very different to my childhood. It is almost impossible to have a special treat these days as luxuries seen as treats, have been normalised to everyday expectations.
While this has been a step forward for equality in many countries. The cost has been the dramatically rising rate of emissions to the detriment of the environment.
Jill Edwards, Camberwell
Profits v wages
Endless headlines and opinion pieces decry the fall in productivity. Far fewer call out the fall in realwages.
Even fewer point out the incremental rise in profits and share value of most of Australia’s major companies. When economists, particularly those employed by industry funded think tanks, talk about “productivity” they are actually talking about profitability and, particularly, dividend yields.
The fact that both profits and dividends have not only been maintained but increased over the past 20 years (not to mention the share buybacks which have further boosted investor income at the expense of the investment that commentators call for) while the real income of employees has been moving backwards actually indicates that, regardless of questionable “productivity” measures, these businesses are doing fine but have been gaslighting the public and their employees in order to boost the incomes of their investors.
It would be nice to think that the “tax roundtable” would consider an overhaul of corporate law to make employee remuneration as important as investor returns. But I’m not holding my breath.
Mick Cahill, Fitzroy North
Sway of progress
People opposing wind farms and solar panel farms would also have opposed replacement of candles by electric light – but eventually those people agreed to it.
John Walsh, Watsonia
Trumpteen maths
The word “umpteen” denotes a large, finite but indeterminate number. So let’s use ″trumpteen” as the only way to adequately identify any number that’s illogical, unacceptable and unpredictable but always larger than it should reasonably be. Breaking trumpteen laws, making trumpteen deals, alienating trumpteen countries: see how useful it can be in providing instant, graphic awareness of what is meant.
Jenifer Nicholls, Windsor
Scandinavian model
We have spent the past month in Scandinavia where the trains system is very popular. Denmark and Sweden both have designated carriages for bikes and prams, plus well-serviced lifts taking passengers and their bikes from the Metro to inter-city train lines. Thousands ride to and from work or to social functions daily, keeping the pollution from cars to a minimum. It all functions effortlessly.
Marilyn Hoban, Mornington
Incisor logic
If the human brain prefrontal cortex is the body’s most influential part in decision-making, why do footballers remove their mouthguard before a goal kick?
David Cayzer, Clifton Hill
Doggone it, AFL
We don’t need Snoop Dogg at the AFL grand final. We need a local up-and-coming band, interpreting an old hit and singing new material. Fireworks if need be. Entertainment doesn’t make any difference to the attendance. The AFL will save money. A local band will get great international exposure.
Jeremy Romanes, Hawthorn