To the Editor:

School children buried beneath buildings in Oklahoma - many dead and many injured. To even contemplate this is unbearable, one can only imagine the suffering, grief, and distress of the mothers and fathers of these children.

Our hearts too are broken and we understand the grief and pain of the families with dead and missing children. This tornado was indeed a cruel and brutal act of nature. Sadly, there are man-made actions that also bury children beneath buildings.

In Pakistan our drones have killed nearly 5000 people since 2001 - at least 176 were children. In 2009 Israel attacked Palestine and "Operation Cast Lead" damaged or destroyed 20,000 buildings in Gaza. 1606 children were injured and 313 died, many were buried beneath the debris of bombed buildings.

We and our media rightly express profound compassion and empathy for the fate of buried children in Oklahoma, but somehow the identical suffering of Palestinian or Pakistani children is unacknowledged and unreported. Where are the tears for those innocent children buried beneath buildings demolished by US drones or those buried by buildings bombed by Israeli pilots in F-16 jet fighters (paid for with our tax dollars) ?

Surely the families of all children whether Palestinian, Pakistani, or American suffer and grieve the loss of loved ones. The tornado in Oklahoma was an act of nature but the drone attacks and Israeli bombings are intentional. What is wrong with us that we cannot make this connection and stop intentional government acts that result in children being buried beneath bombed out buildings?

Eli Kassirer