Letter | The Ukraine war is not about NATO

Do you have strong opinions about these letters or other aspects of the news? Share your views with us by emailing your letter to (email protected) or fill out this Google form. Submissions should be no more than 400 words and must include your full name and address, as well as a phone number for verification.

With reference to the letter“Ukraine has even more to lose if the war continues” (26 August), I cannot fail to recognise your correspondent’s lack of understanding for the determination of the people of Central and Eastern Europe. Having just returned from a two-month trip through Finland, the Baltic States and Poland, I noticed the blue and yellow flags of Ukraine on government buildings and traffic roundabouts.

One only has to visit the Museum of Occupation and Freedom Fights in Vilnius, often referred to as the KGB Museum, to realize that these people will not, now or in the future, return under the yoke of the Soviets or anyone else and will fight to preserve their freedom.

This war has nothing to do with NATO, but with Vladimir Putin’s personal ambition to restore an empire. For this war to end, it is very simple: Russia must return to the pre-1989 borders set by Mikhail Gorbachev and let the Ukrainians live their lives.

Jan Bochenski, Intermediate

Be fair to Israel

“What Albert Camus might think about the suffering of the Palestinians and the responsibility of the West for it” (26.08.) stirs up emotions but neglects some facts. It does not mention that many agreements between Palestinian representatives and Israel were negotiated with the help of international interlocutors, which were then thwarted by the Palestinians.

There is no mention of Israel voluntarily withdrawing from Gaza in 2005, leaving behind profitable industries; that Hamas seized control of Gaza from the Palestinian Authority in 2007 and launched attack after attack against Israel; there is no mention of Hamas targeting Israeli citizens; there is no mention of Hamas attacking Hamas’s charter, which calls for perpetual war against Israel and the annihilation of all Jews everywhere; there is suggestion that Israeli Jews are colonizers, even though Israel’s roots go back thousands of years, while simultaneously bemoaning the fate of Native Americans. Hypocrisy, anyone?

Paul Bloustein, Cincinnati, Ohio

Be fair to Israel

Leave a Reply Cancel reply