Email to David Ward MP re Holocaust Memorial Day

Here is the link to the BBC report about David Ward's comments on Holocaust Memorial Day:

Lib Dems condemn MP's criticism of Israel ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day

In the article he states that he has only had emails from two detractors. So I thought I would be the third.

Another detractor

'david@davidward.org.uk'

Dear Mr Ward.

I see you told the BBC you had only had emails from two
detractors. Please consider this a third.

I have never written this kind of email or letter before.
Most anti-Israel or anti-Jewish statements I just let go past.

Your remarks were offensive. What makes things worse is your
defiance in the face of criticism.

I am happy to accept that not everything Israel does is
perfect and that Palestinians do have some grounds for complaint on some
matters. Some actions of the state are of questionable legality and some
individuals have probably acted in violent or hateful ways and sometimes may
have escaped the sanctions they should have been subjected to.

Many Palestinians have undoubtedly suffered in ways they did
not deserve, although I would argue that the causes for this are complex and
relate at least in part to the actions of their own leaders over the years.

In my view, none of this could be described as
"inflicting atrocities ... on a daily basis".

We live in a world where states commit acts of questionable
morality and legality. One can certainly look at Iraq in terms of recent
history, on-going drone attacks and the general exploitation of developing
countries by those more rich and powerful.

In this context, using a statement about Holocaust Memorial
Day as a vehicle to express your criticism of the actions of Jews is hurtful
and offensive. It is not justifiable nor acceptable to describe these as
"atrocities".

And then, let's look carefully at what you actually wrote:
" I am saddened that the Jews, who suffered unbelievable levels of
persecution during the Holocaust, could within a few years of liberation from
the death camps be inflicting atrocities on Palestinians in the new State of
Israel and continue to do so on a daily basis in the West Bank and Gaza."

So you do not say that you are saddened that any Jews died.
You say that you are saddened by the bad behaviour of the ones who survived.
You do not state clearly that the Jews were victims of atrocities (the word you
use is the less loaded one, "persecution") but you state that Jews
inflicted atrocities. And that they still do. On a daily basis.

For all the injustices suffered by the hands of Palestinians
at the hands of Jews, I find it really difficult to believe that an impartial
observer would equate what the Nazis did to the Jews with what the Jews have
done to the Palestinians. But what you write and the way you write it implies
that in fact what the Jews did was worse.

I don't think I have anything more to say to you.

Please count me as one of your detractors.

Yours sincerely

Prof David Curtis MD PhD FRCPsych