Holocaust Survivor Don Krausz Responds to SA Medical Journal

As I continue to feature some of the work done by private individuals fighting against the bias against Israel in our media, I now turn to another tireless opponent of this hatred, Don Krausz. As we slowly move into Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance day), here's a letter from Don, himself a Holocaust survivor, in response to the March editorial of the SA Medical Journal. The letter was only recently sent in, we will watch next month to see if gets published. I doubt that it will.

Here's Don...

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Dear Sir,

Your article of March 2009 headed “A jaw for a tooth – the human rights costs of the Gaza invasion” refers.

I am a Holocaust survivor. During the years of the German occupation of Europe we Jews were bombarded by every form of hatred, vituperation, slander and insult imaginable. We knew perfectly well that the accusations and calumnies printed and broadcast against us were lies and learned to ignore them. Our attitude was that the fools that believed the incredible statements made against us had to be amazingly stupid and gullible to believe them.

That is how I feel about your article.

I worked in Israel from 1954 to 58 and was a witness to and victim of frequent attacks by so-called Fedayeen, Moslem terrorists. Not far from where I worked a busload of civilians was murdered.

Those Fedayeen also had their motivations – they were fighting against the Occupation of their land. The fact that there was not a single Israeli soldier or settlement in the West Bank or Gaza was beside the point. That occupation only came about during 1967.

Since then we have had to bear with the atrocities of Deir Jassin which were disproved during a BBC interview, the massacres of Jenin which were subsequently denied by the UN and a member of the Palestinian authority and the ghastly killing by the Israeli army of the little Al Dura boy which a French court eventually found to be a fabrication. We now have the inhumanities of Gaza which people like you believe and which I have seen denied by inhabitants of Gaza themselves.

You write how Israel and Egypt sealed-of the exits from Gaza. Why? Something to do with not wanting Hamas terrorists to enter their land? You refer to the seismic aerial bombardment. I have lived through many bombardments. Have you the slightest notion of the horror and terror felt by people that have endured the bombardment of 7,000 rockets and 3,000 mortar bombs in Israeli civilian towns such as Sderot and its neighbours during the past eight years?

Sure the casualty rate on the Israeli side was miniscule. Israel built shelters for its citizens. Didn’t the Hamas realise that after firing 10,000 missiles at Israeli civilian settlements there would be retaliation? Why did they not provide shelters? Or do they believe that the best weapons in their armoury are Palestinians killed by Israeli fire?

Your article seems to prove that.

You mention the 1,380 Palestinians killed. First of all I have seen denials of that figure by Palestinian hospital personnel. Secondly I have seen videos of armed and uninjured Palestinians jumping into UN ambulances. Those fighters wore no uniforms. Should they become casualties and one removed their weaponry, then how could one distinguish them from civilians?

You speak of the torrent of indignation at the viciousness and vindictiveness of the military action. Professor Ncayiyana, if my nearest and dearest were living in towns within range of Gaza and were being subjected to 80 rockets a day I would wipe Gaza off the face of the earth. Germany killed 51,000 civilians in the bombing of Britain. Churchill promised to return every bomb tenfold and he did. If you had had to report on that then I can imagine the torrent of indignation that you would have displayed at such viciousness and vindictiveness.

In 2005 Israel withdrew its army and settlers from Gaza. Will you give me one good reason why the Hamas kept shooting at those civilians? Or why the S. A. Medical Journal never took up their case until Palestinians became victims?

I could continue in similar vein. Let me just say that I don’t think your article does you credit as an unbiased human being or as an editor who is supposed to have an obligation to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Don Krausz

Previously at IAS

• SA Medical Journal Slams Israel

Comments

[Tizoc Schwartz]

Here's an educational resource guide on the holocaust http://www.findingdulcinea.com/info/holocaust-resources

[marcelle]

DON KRAUSZ YOU ARE MY HERO..
'SOCK IT TO EM '..WHAT DO THESE IGNORANT AND DEFILING UNKNOWLEDGEABLE PEOPLE KNOW????? THEY ARE LIKE PARROTS OR SHEEP ECHOING IN THE DARK.
THERE IS NOTHING WORSE THAN A PERSON WHO USES HIS POSITION FOR LIES SLANDER HATRED AND QUIET INCITEMENT .

[Beverley Howroyd]

Hi Don,
You were invited to have a talk at Jeppe Girls on 21/07/2011. My daughter, Pamela Erasmus in Grade 9C, really enjoyed it. She wanted to thank you very much.

Regards

Beverley Howroyd