Gaza has itself to blame

Gaza has itself to blame

EDITOR

In a Jan. 4 letter a writer asks why “the governing bodies of the world” let Gaza be “cruelly cut off from the rest of the world” and endure “barbaric blockade and illegal collective punishment”.

Surprisingly, a key element of the answer to this question is included in the letter itself. As the writer mentions correctly, both Israel and Egypt (the two countries with common borders with Gaza) are responsible for this blockade. But why should Egypt, an Arab state, cooperate with Israel in the siege of Gaza, causing hardship to its Palestinian Arabs?

When Gaza was under Israeli control the citizens of Gaza were empowered, for the first time in their history, to conduct a free election. Overwhelmingly they elected Hamas, a terrorist organization, to form their government. Israel then was pressured by the international community to evacuate Gaza completely, under the false hope that this would encourage the terrorists to moderate. Instead, Gaza became a beachhead for al-Qaida on the Mediterranean shores. The Hamas government terrorized not only Israel but also Egypt. They despise the moderate pro western Egyptian government and support the Egyptian fundamentalist “Islamic Brotherhood” movement in its attempts to overthrow this government violently. (Members of this movement had murdered previous Egyptian moderate president Anwar Sadat.)

In 2008, after years of deliberate daily rocket attacks from Gaza onto Israeli civilian populations, and after numerous warnings, Israel invaded Gaza and destroyed the terror infrastructure. Since then the rocket fire on Israel has ceased. After the war Israel and Egypt established a partial blockade on Gaza, allowing food and humanitarian aid but blocking construction material that the terrorists may use to rebuild their infrastructure.

The citizens of Gaza, who still overwhelmingly support their terrorist government, are asking now for sympathy from the world. These are the same people who danced in the street with joy after 9/11 and celebrated every suicide bombing in Israel against innocent civilians. No wonder the world is not overly sympathetic.

A. Z. RABINOWITZ

Liberty

A piece of personal history

EDITOR:

I enjoyed the Jan. 6 article on Abraham Peters Steckel (Ohio History) in The Vindicator.

When researching my Troxell ancestry, I found and visited the Troxell-Steckel Home in Egypt, Pa., built by our ancestors and which is now a historical landmark owned by the Lehigh County Historical Society. One of the Troxell women married a Steckel, hence the name. I remember mentioning the name Steckel to my late husband, George Grappo. He knew all about Abraham since he was a consulting engineer for the cold metal process. If it were possible to search his drawings, I am sure I could find George’s name on title blocks for the Cold Metal Process Co.

I believe Abraham’s son donated the Troxell-Steckel house to the LCHS. George passed away May 19, 2008, leaving a prolific career of flawless design engineering as well as authentic Italian music as his legacy.

DOROTHY (TROXELL) GRAPPO

Boardman