RESPONSE: Present both sides of the story

I feel the need to reply to Ms. Tysdal’s letter stating that no one from a church would join their four person protest concerning the conflict in Gaza. That is because the people from the church are obviously way more educated and informed on this subject. Tysdal said they decided to protest in front of that church as they display an Israeli flag, I think her letter needed a response to present both sides of the story.

Tysdal obviously is placing all the blame for this war on Israel. She provides the liberal playbook talking points of all the alleged casualties and suffering of the Palestinians and conveniently leaves out what happened to Israel. To blame Israel for what has been happening is very naive, Anti-Semitic or both.

The Muslim terrorist group Hamas was the group, who in cold blood, attacked Israel slaughtering innocent men, women and children. Hamas burned, raped, destroyed and took hostages before they fled back to the Palestinian Gaza Strip to hide like cowards among the civilian population. Then people like Tysdal think that Israel is not entitled to defend themselves and go after the Hamas Terrorists who started the death and destruction. Hamas hides among the civilian population, hides in hospitals, school’s and mosques on purpose so that when the Israeli Army goes after them and there is of course resulting civilian casualties, then that is all Israel’s fault.

There would be no suffering or death among the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip had Hamas not attacked Israel. The Palestinians can also control their own destiny by not allowing Hamas to rule over them, support them and allow them to live among them. I still can see the images of after 9/11 (remember that event?) of Palestinian civilians standing in the streets cheering the terrorist attacks on the United States. Tysdal needs to direct blame toward former Presidents Obama and Biden for releasing billions of dollars back to Iran who then used that money to buy weapons for all the Middle East Terrorist Groups with Iran also assisting in planning the attacks against Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East.

Israel has every right to defend themselves against terrorist attacks and the Palestinians should not allow and support Hamas living among them to carry out attacks and then allow Hamas to hide within their population obviously putting their own people in jeopardy. 

BRIAN OLSON 

Coeur d’Alene