I can understand Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign trade Ken Baugh's call for a ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Palestinian-controlled area of Gaza in the Israeli/Hamas conflict.

But how does the minister determine what is a "disproportionate use of force" by the Israelis?

When hundreds of rockets are coming down on your head from your sworn enemy, the only thing to do is to fire back hard. That's what the Israelis did.

However, it did not stop Hamas from continuing to fire its rockets at Israel, and the Israeli military entered Gaza and did stomp on Hamas, resulting in many Palestinian civilian casualties. That's the price of war.

Hamas knew the inherent risk when they decided to fire on Israel, causing Israeli deaths. Israel and the Palestinians have been at it for decades. It's nothing new.

Exercise discretion

However, I do not believe Jamaica should take sides by charging Israel with "dispropor-tionate use of force" in its battle for survival. Minister Baugh must navigate with greater discretion when dealing with the Middle East.

Calling only for a ceasefire on both sides of the Israeli/Hamas conflict was the prudent position for Minister Baugh to take, and not apportion blame on either side.

I am, etc.,

E. REID

ewarta.reid@verizon.net

Philadelphia, PA