Letters

Got a letter printed in the Independent the other week. I'm not normally a letter writer, but I got a bit irate by some half-wit columnist who argued charities shouldn't appeal for help for people in Gaza.

Here's my response:

Mary Dejevsky asks, "What business is it of Oxfam's whether and when the fighting stops?" The answer is that a ceasefire will allow Oxfam and other aid agencies to do their work – saving lives. While the fighting continues, they can't do their work, and people are suffering.

As an Oxfam supporter, I would feel they were wasting my money if they ignored the causes of emergencies. In the same way that it lobbies on climate change, it should use its influence in other situations if humanitarian crises can be prevented.
Ben Beaumont
Swindon, Wiltshire