Israel no beleaguered victim

The heading ‘Hamas no better than the SS’ (CW 12 October) to Bill Stefaniak’s column was in my view factually questionable and unnecessarily provocative. No one can deny the brutality of Hamas, but it hardly competes with the Nazis’ state-planned genocide of the Holocaust which resulted in the murders of millions of German and other countries’ citizens. Besides, Israel never “gave away” Gaza. For decades, there has been continued violence on both sides, and Israel has long had restrictive sanctions on the daily lives of Gaza’s citizens. Nor is Israel today anything but an authoritarian State, more so than at any time in its history; under the political thumb of Jewish fundamentalists who want to see “God’s will” imposed on the region.  That is, God decreed the land belongs to the Israelites and they have total rights over all others.

But Bill goes over the top when he urges Israel to “take the opportunity to smash Hamas”. Would he explain what he means; what would it entail; and what would be the cost to the Gazan population at large? It will simply go on as it has done for decades, retaliation and counter-retaliation compounded by fear, misery and death for thousands of innocent people on both sides. And people like Bill, as well as our government, keep sidling up to the US in egging Israel on, as if it is the beleaguered Middle East’s bastion of freedom and democracy, with unremitting military action the only answer.

• Eric Hunter, Cook

Renewables not so bad

Ian Pilsner (CW 12 October) writes of a National (US) Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration finding that offshore wind turbines “could increase ocean noise, which would affect the behaviours of fish and other species”. “Could” (not “would”) increase marine noise: by how much; and what “behaviours”?

Mr Pilsner also notes the conclusion of “a PhD scientist” that “extensive expansion of offshore wind farms will have a significant impact on the structuring of marine coastal ecosystems”. How much impact is “significant”, and what exactly does “structuring” mean?

As for birds, an estimate of 2,000 to 8,000 birds is very vague, but even 8,000 a year is minuscule when compared to birds killed by vehicles and windows of buildings, especially ‘glass-rich’ tower blocks.

Mr Pilsner predictably praises nuclear energy, but makes several errors of fact. Early nuclear power plants had an average lifespan of 30 years; modern plants last 40 to 60 years. None of these is an average “lifetime”. Solar panels now last 25 to 30 years, with a 25-year manufacturer’s warranty, and have more recyclable components.

Small modular reactors are still an unproven technology at the scale necessary to displace other low (or zero) emissions energy sources, and there is still the problem of where and how to dispose of large amounts of dangerous radioactive waste.

Renewable energy is not so bad after all.

• Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

Biased not

As he is a regular letter writer in the Canberra Times, if Eric Hunter (CW letters 12 October) really thinks the Canberra Times is not left wing biased, can he name me any of their conservative journalists? I can’t wait for his “unbiased” answer. For years, regular columnists like Jack Waterford and Crispin Hull have spewed out their far left views; if a publication is meant to be impartial and never prejudiced, I would expect them to provide a much more balanced view on topics. Maybe that’s why I prefer to read papers such as the Canberra Weekly.

And if Mary Coombe thinks the Canberra Times is a fair reflection of what she calls “progressive” members of the federal parliament, can she then tell me the names of any conservative journalists in the only newspaper in this city? One in three would be a fair reflection, wouldn’t it? Looking forward to her answer. Might have to pull out a few more papers from the yet to be recycled.

• Ian Pilsner, Weston

Voice has been silenced

The people have spoken and the Voice has been resoundingly silenced. PM Albanese, together with indigenous professors Marcia Langton and Tom Calma as principal architects of the Voice, must accept full responsibility for its demise: Langton and Calma for demanding that the Voice be enshrined in the Constitution, and the PM for unwisely accepting the Uluru Statement in its entirety, knowing full well that referendums have a very poor success rate, particularly without bipartisan support. Regrettably, everyone loses under the circumstances, and maybe it’s time to de-politicise and for the nation to come together as a whole to ensure that the Indigenous community gets the recognition it deserves. The PM made an error of judgement when he allowed the Voice to go to a referendum, particularly when other options were available by either simply legislating or by holding a constitutional convention.

– Mario Stivala, Belconnen

[online only]

What about the Stern Gang?

Re: Bill Stefaniak ‘Hamas no better than the SS’ (CW 12 October). Well, maybe Stefaniak should do some research on a group of Zionists by the name of Stern Gang. Lehi, often known pejoratively as the Stern Gang, was a Zionist paramilitary militant organisation founded in Mandatory Palestine in 1940 by Avraham (‘Yair’) Stern.

The Stern Gang numbered no more than a few hundred. They operated in small groups and concentrated on the assassination of government officials. Notable attacks: Killing of Lord Moyne; Cairo–Haifa train bombings; Deir Yassin massacre; killing of Count Folke Bernadotte.

• Gordon Buckley, Evatt

Editor’s note: Lehi was founded in August 1940 and dissolved in May 1948 (Wikipedia).

Another 20 years of the same

To those No voters who said they hated the waste and inefficiency of the current Canberra-based system of assisting Indigenous people, you just voted for another 20 years of the same.

Doug Steley, Heyfield VIC 

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