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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World

In Gaza, as in Britain, we need justice, not punishment

Gaza Ben Okri the International Court of Justice Hamas
Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike where displaced people were staying in Rafah, Gaza, on 27 May.
Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli airstrike where displaced people were staying in Rafah, Gaza, on 27 May. Palestinian health workers said Israeli airstrikes killed at least 35 people in the area. Israel's army confirmed the airstrike and said it hit a Hamas installation and killed two senior Hamas militants. Photograph: Jehad Alshrafi/AP

Thank you for publishing Ben Okri’s new poem, Gaza (24 May). It was an expression in poetry of what has been to me an inexpressible despair for humankind: “No / Civilisation can survive on the murder / Of a people … / We are measured by what we tolerate, / The agony we ignore, keep quiet about, / For our peace of mind”.

Elsewhere in the Guardian on the same day, we were enjoined by Jonathan Freedland to vote down the Tories to punish them, but retribution in Gaza has shown us that while punishment may bring satisfaction to the avenger, it does not bring healing.

I shall vote for a party that unequivocally endorses the judgment of the international court of justice – that will truly represent me. If none there be, so be it, I am disenfranchised.
Ruth Baker
Matfield, Kent

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