Israel’s responsibility

The editorial “Hamas’s illegitimacy” (Nov. 21) states that “Israel also has a responsibility for the current crisis.” But it would have been better to spell out just what it has been responsible for: a cruel blockade of Gaza designed to keep the citizens of that overcrowded strip of land on a near-starvation diet; the murder at will of officials of the elected Hamas government; and the continued theft of Arab land to ensure that there will be no progress in implementing the Oslo Accords. Given the extent of Israel’s responsibility for the present situation, President Barack Obama’s knee-jerk support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s air, sea and land bombardment of the Gaza ghetto is shameful.

Derek Blades, Cannes, France