Dear Editor,

On April 6, 2018, near Tisdale Sask., a badly trained truck driver crashed into a bus killing 16 members of the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team and injuring 13 others. Canadians mourned the terrible loss, and we can be sure many loved ones are still mourning.

On Aug. 10, more than 100 Palestinians were killed while sheltering in a school in Gaza City. This is not even as remarkable as the Broncos disaster and the reason it is not as remarkable is because the killing of Palestinians is now so commonplace. Sadly the mass killing of Palestinians is not even water-cooler conversation in most places nor is it discussed in more formal settings for the most part.

I believe the majority of Canadians go about their business as if nothing is happening in Gaza, because they think they can do nothing about these relentless massacres by Israel, and I suspect most Canadians have not taken the time to learn about the separation of Palestinians from their land these past 80 years. I'm sure a great many adults do know how our nation like others, turned a blind eye to Jews seeking escape from the Holocaust prior to the forceful division of Palestine.

But we can and must do something about the current war on Palestinians and Israelis. We can publicly declare that it is wrong to murder 39,000 Palestinians and 1,139 Israelis. This is wrong, wrong, wrong. It is not enough to accept that this is war and that these things happen in war. They happen in war, because we accept all these abominable crimes. We accept them through our silence or even vocally in a mistaken contention that war is a solution. Yes, we bystanders are not innocent by any means.

I will not remind readers about the horrific sufferings that are occurring in Gaza and Israel. I invite readers who are mentally sound enough to ponder on such suffering for a little time.
I call on Canadians to be nonviolent but resolute in rejecting war, weapon sales and transfers; resolute in avoiding support for any government or group that sees war as a solution or sees fit to treat any race as deserving of less than full human rights. I ask righteous Jews and Palestinians to answer this call, but in particular I ask you to do so.

Dr. Brendan Martin, Brookswood