[R-G] Palestinians also captured in Rafah

[Nicholas Morcinek]

A letter to the Toronto Daily Star....


Jun. 27, 2006. 01:00 AM


Attack sparks Mideast crisis 

To the Editor:
As someone who has served in an Israeli tank unit near Kerem Shalom, I have
nothing but sympathy for the bereaved families of Lieut. Hanan Barak and
Sgt. Pavel Slutsker, killed in a daring Palestinian commando raid in which
Corp. Gilad Shalit was taken captive. But some perspective and some context
are necessary. 

This tank base was one of the locations from which Israel has been
relentlessly shelling the Gaza Strip for several weeks. Further, just one
day earlier, on Saturday, Israeli commandos had raided Rafah, in the Gaza
Strip, and captured two brothers, Mustafa and Osama Mu'ammar. All of this is
well-known, but did not make it to the front page. Can it be that
Palestinian lives are nothing, Israeli lives everything? 

Naftali Lavie, Toronto