Jennifer Rubin's Washington Post blog that was published in The Japan Times on Dec. 7, under the headline "Paucity of 'no' votes reflects a cowardly profile," reflects the grumbling of someone who sees the world through the gunport peepholes of a superpower's mighty fortress. Her complaint against the U.N. vote to extend nonmember observer status to the Palestinians is an attack on poor people struggling in the wilderness out there.
Why did the United States have to try to persuade other countries to vote against the U.N. resolution?
The resolution was an overdue attempt to redress an injustice that has been imposed by the U.S. and its allies. It so happens that an increasing number of countries now realize that this injustice must not be allowed to stand anymore.
The Jews attained statehood only with the help of the Western powers, who had divided the Middle East by drawing grotesquely artificial borders on a map with ruler and pen. Indigenous peoples were conquered by brute force. When these peoples attained sovereignty, they deprived the Palestinians of sovereignty.
The Israeli "Goliath," armed with high-tech weapons and backed by Western powers, has been oppressing the stone-hurling Palestinian "David," who is forcefully confined in a closed land.
Israeli politicians appear shameless in working to strengthen their positions for upcoming elections by appeasing their own people through destructive actions on another people, thus making the world more unstable and dangerous.
Why must we endure this situation?
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.