Here is the History
A recent letter to the editor, “Some things I understand; some I don’t,” starts with a statement that we can all agree on: “the news from Gaza is painful.” Next, “Palestine and Israel have a long history, with rights and wrongs … on both sides” indicates a moral equivalence and equal responsibility. The writer dismisses the “violence in October 2023” as just one more atrocity. Anyone who shares this opinion should watch the film “Bearing Witness to the Massacre,” at october7film.com, much of which was filmed by Hamas while they were killing Jews and others. The writer then questions “how the U.S. government can keep sending weapons to Israel” and “how people of faith or people with a conscience, can look away.”
Facts and history matter.
The October 7th attacks were the worst atrocity against Jews since the holocaust. The 1,200 people killed by Hamas would be equivalent to 40,000 dead Americans. Multiple American Presidents have tried to broker peace. Bill Clinton said of the failed Oslo Accords: “I killed myself to give the Palestinians a state. I had a deal they turned down that would have given them all of Gaza, between 96 and 97 % of the West Bank and compensating land in Israel.” He told Yasser Arafat, “You are leading your people and region to a catastrophe.”
What I don’t understand is how people would deny the only democracy in the Middle East and our close ally the means to defend itself.
A last-minute update from the Oct. 15th Wall Street Journal “Hamas Launches Violent Crackdown on Rivals in Gaza” describes Palestinians being dragged into a public square and being executed before a crowd of onlookers.” Where is the equivalence?