On August 11, HRC Subscriber Larry Shapiro was published in the Prince George Daily News, responding to an opinion piece by High School teacher and columnist Gerry Chidiac, which blamed Israel for a lack of peace in the Middle East.

Shapiro challenged this assertion, pointing to Israel’s ongoing efforts to establish peaceful relations with Arab countries through regional normalization and the Abraham Accords. He argued that the primary obstacles to peace are the Islamic Republic of Iran and the terrorist organizations it supports; including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other Palestinian terror groups.

LETTER: Chidiac misses one point about Israel

Thank you for Mr. Chidiac’s column explaining what lies ahead for Israel. I would differ on one issue. Mr. Chidiac stated that Israel can’t continue to solve it problems militarily. Israel understands this and is aggressively working with Arab countries to join the Abraham Accords that is normalizing relations with Israel and the Arab world. So far, a number of Arab countries such as the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Kazakhstan and Sudan have joined and hostilities have ceased between them and Israel. Several other countries including Saudi Arabia are on the fence contemplating whether it is safe to make peace with the Jews. Twenty years ago, the only Mideast countries at peace with Israel were Egypt and Jordan, so the complexion of the Middle East has changed dramatically. 

It should be noted that the Palestinians are angry at the Arab countries that normalized relations with Israel ad are doing everything they can to undermine the peace. Whatever military maneuvers Israel is presently using tis related to Palestinian and Iranian resistance to its existence. 

Larry Shapiro,
Calgary, Alberta