Time for change

The ACT is in decline with Canberra a shadow of its former self. Crippling worsening debt, debatable infrastructure, inefficient land management, inappropriate architecture, worsening footpaths, eyesore landscaping and general neglect leaves us looking degraded.

In the meantime, a gaggle of elected battlers with highly questionable skills, whose only focus it seems is on one election to another and anchoring personal privilege, carry on like social engineering yahoos driving the place into further ruin.

Our flirting with top heavy fed-style government has failed and we must now seriously consider replacing it with a city council which operates successfully in many major cities across Australia. A comparison of operating costs and efficiencies suggests we could improve services and lift standards at little extra impost to ratepayers whilst delivering a more dignified system of government.

– John Lawrence, Flynn

A time for humanity not hate

Bill Stefaniak (CW 16 November) is quite correct when he says now is not the time for hate.

I wonder if it is only the ‘leftist’ media that has shown us the hundreds of Palestinians murdered in the West Bank since 7 November. Has Bill become aware that the death penalty is being proposed in the Knesset for some Palestinian prisoners, noting thousands of which, including children, are held in detention every year without charge or trial? Maybe Bill didn’t see the concert held by Israeli singer Lior Narkis for cheering IDF soldiers while referencing Gazans including the slain Palestinian women and children in the most despicable terms, or Israeli TV host Shai Golden who threatens they will kill all Arabs and then take on America if necessary. Indeed, this is no time for hate, anywhere in the world.

I’m not sure who Bill is referring to when he references the “extreme Hamas supporters” in this country. Millions of people have taken to the street in peaceful protests worldwide to protest the indiscriminate bombing on Gaza. They do not do so in support of Hamas.

We did not get prior warning of the Hamas attack of 7 November, but soon after, the Israeli government made their intentions clear. Israeli genocide scholar Raz Segal called Israel’s assault on Gaza a textbook case of “intent to commit genocide”.

We march along with many Jews, not for the child from Gaza who is receiving medical treatment in Israel but the 5,000 or so children killed in Gaza from Israeli bombing, the reported 1,500 buried under the rubble of what was once their homes, the thousands injured, some being operated on without anaesthetic in hospitals which are under Israeli bombardment, and those who have been left orphaned by Western sponsored Israeli bombs.

I don’t believe we need prioritise a flag-waving exercise with politicians and members of Muslim and Jewish communities. The powerful message we urgently need to send is to our government, to call for an immediate ceasefire before any more innocent children lose their lives.

• Paul Flynn, Belconnen

Two-state solution never on the table

I am sure every resident of the ACT agrees with Bill Stefaniak when he says that hate has no place in our city. I would remind him that the last Coalition government attempted to remove Section 18C from the Racial Discrimination Act. The then Liberal Attorney-General infamously said everyone has the right to be a bigot.

The large demonstrations calling for a cease-fire are not organised by left-leaning useful idiots supporting Hamas … These are just ordinary folk wanting to see an end to bloodshed.

Hamas only has control of the civil administration of the Gaza Strip because of support from Israel, the occupying power under international law. Benjamin Netanyahu admits this and concedes that it was a terrible mistake.

With Hamas controlling Gaza and the Palestinian Authority administering the West Bank, a two-state solution was never going to be on the table, and settler land seizures could continue. Israel always had the ability to enter Gaza and enforce its policies. Armoured bulldozers and tanks would regularly enter Gaza and destroy all houses owned by the extended families of suicide bombers. They could have done the same to any tunnel construction detected by intelligence sources long before the current war began.

Bill is also right to support a two-state solution. The population of Israel is 9.5 million and over 20 per cent are Arabs, Christian and Muslim. The Arab population of the Occupied Territories is 5.3 million. Israel cannot absorb such numbers and remain a democracy – especially as the Arab population is growing at a far faster rate than it Jewish citizens. Mass expulsions are not possible as in the past. The world is watching and will no longer welcome all refugees.

Getting Israel to accept a new neighbour will be a very difficult ask, but it must happen.

– Noel Baxendell, Holt

Discontinuance of protection

I congratulate Bill Stefaniak on his second column on the Israel-Hamas crisis, however, take issue with his comments about the West Bank settlements. If anything, these are on “disputed” land, not “occupied” land. If we look at the Old Testament, Israel was much larger than its current borders would suggest.

In my recent letter (CW 2 November), I used a quote by Golda Meir (paraphrased by Benjamin Netanyahu), “If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel” and this, along with other slogans used recently, moves me to supporting a one-state solution.

On the matter of International Law, Israel has been adhering 100 per cent to Article 19 of the Geneva Conventions which “also considers the discontinuance of protection of hospitals. If a decision is made to attack a hospital, international humanitarian law requires advanced warning to that hospital. If the hospital fails to heed the warning, the subsequent attack on that hospital must adhere to the principles of precaution and proportionality” as well as “A building ceases to be a hospital when it is used as a base to launch rockets”. Under these circumstances, a building is transformed from “hospital” to “legitimate military target”.

If Israel was to accept a ceasefire of any duration, Hamas would just use this time to regroup. Israel should not agree until Hamas has been removed and the Palestinians of Gaza are truly free to vote in what should be genuinely “free and fair” elections for a civilian government.

I also congratulate Athol Morris (CW 16 November) on his informative letter. He notes “there was not and never has been a people called the ‘Palestinians’ until the 1980s. I thought it might have been a little earlier, though, having read comments elsewhere that it may have been the early 20th Century.
– Paul Myers, Karabar NSW

Words will go unheeded

In his column ‘No place for hate in Australia’ (CW 16 November) Bill Stefaniak presents us with some good old-fashioned common sense. He praises where praise is due, and condemns when condemnation is deserved. He recognises that not all Palestinians are Hamas, and not all Hamas members are “narrow-minded Jihadists”.

Mr Stefaniak also recognises the “evil influence” of Iran (which is also siding with Russia in the murderous Ukraine war). Finally, he recognises that the ordinary people of Israel and Palestine need to reject these extremists; and that Israel needs to withdraw its armed and dangerous settlers from the West Bank before there can be a lasting peace. It’s just a pity that his words won’t be read or heeded by those who should read and heed them.

– Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

Sea level rising

Bill Stefaniak’s extension of congratulations to PM Anthony Albanese for offering to rehome climate refugees from Tuvalu is timely (CW 16 November). Sea level in Tuvalu is nearly 150 mm higher than it was 30 years ago and the average rate of increase (5 mm per year) is already 1.5 times the global average. Already saltwater intrusion due to rising sea levels has degraded ground well water and food security is threatened. The Pacific Islands’ call for fossil fuels to be phased out is fair and reasonable. If the Australian government is genuine about combating climate change, instead of opening new coal and gas projects, a phase-out plan should be developed.

– Ray Peck, Hawthorn VIC

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