At the same time, I must condemn Hamas terrorists whose dangerous leadership has been a detriment to Palestinians. They have aimed thousands of rockets at Israel with the sole goal of killing as many innocent people as possible and have made southern Israel unsafe. These same Hamas terrorists have attacked Israel while using the inhumane practice of human shields. Hamas terrorists protect themselves by surrounding themselves with women and children. After all, the largest cache of Hamas weaponry currently is stored under the largest hospital in Gaza.

I must address Antoon’s use of the word genocide. Every time a military exercise in self-defense is called a genocide, or a mass ethnic cleansing, the word is cheapened. Not only are Israel’s military operations screened to lower civilian casualties, true genocides, such as those in Darfur, Rwanda or Kosovo, lose their meaning when the word is used carelessly.

I have been to Palestine and I have been to Sderot, one Israeli town where children have school canceled not for snow days but because of rockets. The rockets that Hamas prides itself on launching makes Sderot a place where the elderly cannot leave their homes. The handicapped cannot get to bomb shelters in the 15 seconds it takes for Israelis to run for cover after Hamas launches a rocket.

I call on President-elect Obama to work for a Palestinian leadership that will bring them peace and prosperity, because they deserve better than what Hamas has brought them.

Daniel Kuhn

international relations senior