Referencing the story by Colleen Smith Armstrong on David Schermerhorn and the letter to the editor by Jackie Wolf, I am continually amazed by the folks who claim to be helping the helpless by supporting the Hamas terrorists in the Gaza strip and at the same time by dunning the only stable democracy and loyal U.S. ally in the Mid East.

Might I remind them that Israel has blockaded Gaza to attempt to control the influx of armament which has been used for years against Israeli civilian targets. Over 10,000 rockets and mortar shells have been fired into Israel in the past few years by this helpless group and in spite of this aggression, Israel transports food, water, and medical supplies to the citizens of Gaza on a daily basis.

It is also interesting to note that the citizens of Gaza freely elected this terrorist organization whose stated goal is to eliminate Israel from the face of the earth. It appears they have made their bed and are now sleeping in it.

Bob Cairns

Eastsound

Editor’s note: Our stated policy of only accepting letters to the editor that pertain to local issues became somewhat compromised with a recent letter referencing the story about David Schermerhorn. His activities brought international events home to Orcas and required coverage in our local paper. In that connection, we also printed a letter that referenced Schermerhorn’s activities. The letter contained comments about the situation that were beyond the political scope of a community newspaper like the Sounder. In hindsight, we regret not having edited out those comments that went too deeply into the political issues.

Having said that, we have received a response to the initial letter that expresses an opposing viewpoint. We are printing this letter in the interest of balance, but will not print any more letters on this subject.