Stephen F. Kislock, III – 1/4/09

This page was last updated on January 6, 2009.

History will judge U.S., Israel harshly; Stephen F. Kislock, III; Beaver County Times; January 4, 2009.

Most of Mr. Kislock’s 30+ letters over the last four years have been Republican-bashing exercises.

This is at least the second anti-Israel letter by Mr. Kislock. His previous letter was entitled “All candidates are pro-Israel.”

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, endorsed by the United Nations on Dec. 10, 1948, asserts the right of every individual to life, freedom, safety and legal recognition and maintains that no human being should be exposed to torture and cruel and degrading punishment.”

[RWC] At the end of this letter I’ll ask you what Mr. Kislock doesn’t mention.

Since Mr. Kislock referenced the UN, he should know the UN partitioned Palestine into an Arab section and a Jewish section, effectively creating modern day Israel.

“Israel has turned the Gaza Strip into the 21st century’s version of the Warsaw Ghetto. Israel’s blockade of Gaza is declaration of war. Mass punishment, to deny food, water, medicine and heating oil, is barbaric. What are the Palestinians to do?”

[RWC] Apparently they lob missiles into Israel. They used to strap bombs on their kids and send them into Israel, but the wall Israel built has mostly eliminated that tactic. Perhaps Mr. Kislock could tell us if “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights” covers these actions.

“In 2007, there were 25 Palestinian deaths for every Israeli death. Since the beginning of the Intifada, 776 Palestinian and 195 Israeli children have been killed.”

[RWC] Mr. Kislock fails to note it was the Palestinians who started the Second Intifada in 2000, shortly after peace talks hosted by then-President Bill Clinton collapsed. Mr. Kislock also fails to note the Palestinians intentionally launch their attacks from population centers to use the residents as human shields.

“As Israel’s main supporter, the United States will be judged by history as guilty of crimes against humanity.

“Why is there this problem in this tiny part of the world? Land and its ownership. Reestablishing the pre-1967 borders, for a start, would do a lot to solve these problems.”

[RWC] This is the “land for peace” BS we’ve been hearing for decades. When your enemies start a war with you, why should you give back any land you win during that war? If Israel had lost land during the war, does anyone believe Mr. Kislock would be lobbying for Egypt, Jordan, and Syria to return conquered land?

That point aside, Israel has been returning land. Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in the early 1980s and turned over the Gaza Strip to the “Palestinians” in 1994. Further, Israel forced the closure of Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in 2005. None of this returning of land resulted in more peace. All it did was give the Palestinians closer locations from which to launch missiles into Israel.

If “[r]eestablishing the pre-1967 borders, for a start, would do a lot to solve these problems,” why did the Arabs start the 1967 was in the first place?

“With a weak U.S. government, death and destruction will sound throughout the Holy Land.”

[RWC] What “weak U.S. government?” Mr. Kislock supported Mr. Obama for President. Is Mr. Kislock now saying Mr. Obama will make the U.S. weak?

“Like shooting fish in a barrel, Israel is targeting this small area with weapons made in America. Our $100-plus billion in aid to Israel leads to the death of thousands.”

[RWC] What didn’t Mr. Kislock mention? Mr. Kislock never mentioned the Palestinian “government” is run by Hamas, a terrorist organization.

Finally, the usual group of lefties submitted comments on the Times website supporting Mr. Kislock, including Carl Davidson and William Horter.