Olmert: Israeli lives worth more than Palestinian ones

Ehud Olmert has made a statement that one can only think he will one day come to regret.

Whilst apologising for the deaths of 14 innocent Palestinians over the past nine days, he said the lives of Israeli citizens threatened by Qassam attacks were "even more important".

Almost three times as many Palestinian civilians have been killed in Gaza in the past nine days as Israeli civilians in Sderot killed by Qassam rockets in the past five years.

Often when one seeks to defend the rights of the Palestinians one is accused by Israel and it's supporters of attempting moral equivalence.

There is moral equivalence here. Innocents are innocent whether they be Israeli or Palestinian and the deaths of both are to be abhorred.

For Mr Olmert to imply that the lives of Israelis are of greater worth than the lives of Palestinians is simply shocking.

One would hope that this is merely a phrase that slipped out inappropriately and that it will be swiftly corrected.

Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, this week called on Israel to ensure its responses were "proportionate and do not put civilians at grave risk ".

If Mr Olmert's statement is allowed to stand uncorrected then it will be impossible to believe that Israel could ever comply with Annan's wish.

All human lives are of equal value. And protecting the lives of one group of innocents cannot be "more important" than the lives of others.

Olmert should realise the danger of any one group deeming itself of greater value than another and withdraw this statement immediately.

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Tags: Olmert, Israel, Palestine, innocents, worth,