A Bloody Battle

The greatest impediment to Palestinian-Israeli peace is not only Hamas, as Daniel Klaidman so matter-of-factly states in his article. Israel must share the blame because of its chokehold on Gaza and the Palestinians. Gaza has been made a prison by the Israelis, who have for years limited the border passage of food, medicine and other essentials and even the freedom of people to come and go as they please. The intolerable conditions which Gazans endure as a result has led to the feelings of desperation and despair that allowed a group like Hamas to succeed. Imagine how Israelis would react if their borders, seashore and airspace were sealed and controlled by a foreign power as they have controlled Gaza's. Israel may destroy Hamas and hundreds of innocent people in the current battle, but it cannot destroy an idea whose time has come, a free and independent Palestinian state.
V. Albert Gieri
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Whatever Newsweek hoped to achieve with its Jan. 12 cover story on how to end the Israeli-Arab conflict, the effect is completely canceled out by the inflammatory cover image of an Israeli border policeman firing tear gas at Palestinian rioters. Anyone looking at the magazine sees an expressionless helmeted man, his eyes concealed behind sunglasses, producing an explosion with a terrifying-looking weapon. Of all the possible images of the current round of Iranian-directed terrorist war against Israel, your editors chose this one to demonize the victim. This is a disgraceful misuse of the power of photography and a setback to the cause of peace.
Martin Gidron
Silver Spring, Maryland

I was disappointed by your portrayal of the war in Gaza. Although Daniel Klaidman's article tried to be evenhanded in its analysis, subtler visual elements, especially on the cover, told a different story. Pictures of firing Israeli soldiers and assertions to "get tough on Israel" indicated that, if anything, Israel bears greater responsibility for the consequences of this conflict. There should not be a moral equivalency between terrorism and self-defense. Placing Israel on the defensive in this situation is damaging to its efforts to protect its people.
Shoshana Kaish
New York, New York

The European Union and the United States have both labeled Hamas a terrorist organization. So have various Arab states, for which nothing could be worse than an anarchy-based and murderous organization destabilizing the Islamic world. For years, Hamas has pursued the clearly terrorist activity of lobbing rockets at unarmed Israeli towns, causing casualties amid deafening silence on the part of so-called civilized nations. Hamas wants simply to eliminate Israel, a sovereign member of the U.N. Hamas should not be neutralized, it must be destroyed.
Jose Waechter
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Sarkozy Unbound
Christopher Dickey and Tracy McNicoll give a first-rate analysis in "President on the Precipice" (Dec. 22). Is Nicolas Sarkozy not a puppet, trying to mask a particular flaw? He is involved in many things, poking his nose into external matters while domestic problems continue to play havoc in France. Obviously he has not fully committed to the platform that has led him to the presidency. The fact of the matter is that Sarkozy is partly imitating the American model of democracy while constantly sticking to the same policy of the so-called pundits he has replaced and who have plunged the country into a big quagmire. Look at the huge debts he continues to build up to relaunch the economy while joblessness is on the rise. The funny thing about the French government is that it is always back to square one. Like his predecessors, Sarkozy is engaged in the politics of make-believe.
Dan Chellumben
Amboise, France

He Chose to Speak Up
I am appalled that Thomas Tamm, the Department of Justice whistle-blower who disclosed the Bush administration's illegal domestic-wiretapping program, is being harassed by the FBI for his part in disclosing the cover-up of a plan that originated in the Oval Office ("The Fed Who Blew the Whistle," Dec. 22). Tamm is a national hero who had the guts to do what he thought was right and wasn't intimidated by the power of the presidency. He is on a par with Deep Throat, among others. President Obama should pardon him, then direct Attorney General–designate Eric Holder to offer him his job back and instruct the DOJ to seek indictments against those involved in authorizing and carrying out the illegal program, including Bush and former vice president Cheney. Their actions in undermining and circumventing the protections of the First and Fourth amendments are perhaps the most egregious attempts to consolidate absolute power within the executive branch since the dark days of Richard Nixon.
Harvey Jay Goldstein
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

I commend Newsweek for high-lighting the example of a common man doing his job—upholding the Constitution of the United States and the rule of law. The Bush administration repeatedly held itself above the law and lived for the ends justifying whatever means it took to get there. In the wake of such political bullying, there are many who kept silent. Thank God for people like Thomas Tamm who spoke when no one else was finding a voice. How ironic that the FBI sent an agent named Lawless to try to crush Tamm's courage. This nation is made up of people like Tamm, and that is our strength.
Rev. Joseph Clark
Washington Grove, Maryland