This occupation dooms us to what we are seeing We’re sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later. Dismiss May 18, 2021 — 12.03am Normal text size The Age, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number. THE GAZA STRIP This occupation dooms us to what we are seeing The violent tragedy unfolding in Israel/Palestine is a vile stain on successive Israeli governments and the Palestinian Authority, compounded by Hamas, whose refusal to recognise the reality of Israel is an act of wilful, obsessive and destructive blindness. Even in our local Jewish and Muslim communities, the pain, anger and fear we feel for our sisters and brothers in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, render us unable to empathise with the same emotions experienced by the other. This is not to equate the suffering on each side, simply to acknowledge it.