The Guardian, London, Nov. 22, 2003 - http://guardian.co.uk/israel/comment/0,10551,1090894,00.html

Letters

Israel's contempt for Tom

The Guardian, London, Saturday November 22, 2003

If my intelligent, courageous son, Tom, had not been left severely brain damaged by an Israeli soldier, he would have vouched for the fact that I am not prone to speechlessness. Words now fail me.

Two days ago, I received notification from my bank that the cheque sent by Israel's ambassador, for a fraction of the expenses incurred by the family for Tom's repatriation and for which we have had to wait five months, had not been honoured by the Bank of Israel. "Insufficient funds" was the reason given.

This is one of a catalogue of actions which can only be perceived as an illustration of the contempt shown towards the issue of Tom's shooting. We endeavoured for weeks, through the British embassy and the media, to have a meeting with somebody in the Israeli government who might give us some response as to what happened before we finally met representatives. Recently, the Israeli ambassador in London arranged a meeting which was subsequently cancelled without proper explanation.

As money is so tight, might it not be appropriate for Israel to channel less towards its illegal "security" fences or the development of remote control bulldozers and more towards the rebuilding of destroyed houses in Palestine and other debts, such as Tom's repatriation?

It is a mind-numbing task to understand the morality and to use the logic of the Israeli government. What hope do Palestinians have when such profound disregard and disrespect is shown to humanity, collectively and individually?

Jocelyn Hurndall
London

Israel's contempt is not only directed at Tom.

"All Jews are good by nature, all non-Jews are evil by nature. The Jews are creation's crowning glory, the non-Jews are the scum of the earth."

The above is the religious commandment of Rabbi †Shneur Zalman (picture) according to the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung", March 11, 1994, page 14. Rabbi Shneur Zalman was not only the foremost Chassidic leader in Europe. He was a leading halachic scholar, who compiled a new version of the Shulchan Aruch - the Code of Jewish Law - updating it in terms of the two centuries of commentaries and discussions since it was written by Rabbi Joseph Karo.