RE “Stamford’s Name Should Never Be Used to Launder a Genocide,” (Nov. 6, letter):
Hate is a terrible thing. An opinion piece by a former state representative, appearing in the Stamford Examiner on November 6, confirmed that hate harms both the victim and the perpetrator of that hate. Hate lends itself to spreading lies, shutting off all information that challenges a hateful perspective, and a willingness to parrot any information that supports a hateful perspective, even when it comes from the most unreliable sources.
The piece conveyed unreasoned and unjustified hatred for Israel. It lamented that Jewish people and Jewish organizations support Israel, the only Jewish state in the world, and continue to do so even after its people were mercilessly attacked by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.
United Jewish Federation of Stamford, New Canaan, and Darien (UJF) and Jewish Federations of North America support Israel as a free and democratic Jewish homeland. Like virtually all mainstream Jewish organizations, they support Israel in its effort to protect its citizens from countries and organizations that openly and proudly announce that they want to commit genocide.
That is not to say that the Jewish community supports every action or decision of the government of the State of Israel. Just as we Americans don’t agree with every action or decision of any particular President, there are different perspectives on any number of matters both in Israel and among American Jews. That’s what free people do in a democracy. Yet, there is virtual unanimity with respect to the recognition that Israel is obligated to protect itself.
The author seems to believe that Israel should not have responded to these efforts to obliterate it. He also seems to believe that his perspective is somehow shared by a silent majority of Jews, and other Americans despite ample polling data that proves otherwise.
To justify his contention that Israel shouldn’t be allowed to protect itself, he embraces the hateful false tropes that Israel is committing genocide and purposely starving Gazan civilians. He spreads these canards to convince us that only indecent or immoral people would disagree with him. But we know the truth, and we want to make sure CT Examiner’s readers do as well.
United Jewish Federation and the Jewish community mourn the loss of all innocent civilians, including those who died in Gaza during this war. What the writer has ignored is that there would be no war if Hamas hadn’t committed the surprise, heinous October 7 attacks targeting civilians. Unfortunately, Hamas joyously committed inhuman and unthinkable atrocities on that date, including burning to death whole families in their very own homes, shooting up a peaceful music festival, murdering more than 1,200 innocent people, injuring over 5,000, kidnapping and holding hostage 251 people, and raping and sexually mutilating women and girls. While engaged in committing the atrocities, the terrorists filmed their exploits to ensure that they received proper credit for their work and praised God for their success. They and their leaders made it clear that they would continue to engage in these kinds of attacks given the chance.
We need to address who is responsible for the loss of civilians. We have already noted that Hamas’s reason for existence is to destroy Israel and murder Jews. It is not to educate, train, house, or feed the people of Gaza, and it is certainly not to create a peaceful Palestinian state that coexists with Israel. Hamas leaders have publicly stated that it is very willing to sacrifice its own civilians in order to fulfill its mission. Hamas’ missile launchers, terror tunnels, and operations bases are purposely built in, around, and under hospitals, schools, mosques, and UN facilities with no regard for their citizens or other innocent lives. These are all war crimes. So where is the outrage? Why does Hamas purposely put its civilians at risk? Because its leaders know that Israel tries to avoid civilian casualties. Israel tries to protect Gazan civilians while Hamas uses them as human shields.
The former representative accuses Israel of genocide. The accusation demonstrates that he clearly doesn’t know the meaning of genocide. The genocide charge reeks of hatred because it is designed to authoritatively demonize Israel and shut off all conversation. The charge is a lie. Genocide is defined by a specific intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group in whole or in part. As John Spencer, Chair of the Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point wrote in late July “Since October 7, I have been to Gaza four times, embedded with the Israel Defense Forces. I have interviewed the Prime Minister of Israel, the defense minister, the IDF Chief of Staff, Southern Command leadership, and dozens of other commanders and soldiers on the front lines. I have reviewed their orders, watched their targeting process, and seen soldiers take real risks to avoid harming civilians. Nothing I have seen or studied resembles genocide or a genocidal intent.”
Mr. Spencer also noted “In this war against Hamas… Israel has done more and has implemented more civilian harm-mitigation measures than any military in the history of the war, to include the U.S., Canada, the coalitions to prevent civilian casualties and destruction.” During the war, the IDF has facilitated millions of vaccine doses, supplied fuel to hospitals, and has facilitated the flow of food and medicine through the UN, aid groups, and others. Does this sound like a country bent on genocide?
Speaking of food, the allegations of widespread purposeful starvation are also lies. To quote John Spencer one more time “Israel has delivered more humanitarian aid to Gaza than any military in history has provided to an enemy population.” The efforts of Israel to spare and, to the extent possible, protect and take care of Gazan civilians have been unprecedented. Yet, the author doesn’t seem to know this because, in his view, everything is exclusively Israel’s fault.
Finally, let’s talk about Israel outside of the context of the war, which will soon be over if Hamas keeps its word and honors the terms of the ceasefire. People like the former representative don’t like to acknowledge the similarities between Israel’s values and the values they suggest are dear to them. Israel is a free, democratic country, which respects diversity of all kinds, including religion, race, gender, and sexual orientation. Israel has more than 2,000,000 Arab/Palestinian citizens. Those citizens enjoy the same rights as its Jewish citizens.
Doesn’t that say more about the kind of country Israel is and its desire to live in peace and security with its neighbors than all the lies about genocide and starvation that are lodged at Israel by hateful people?
If you want to learn about United Jewish Federation, the local Jewish community, or Israel, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] or visit www.ujf.org.
Gary Jones, Director
Jewish Community Relations Council
United Jewish Federation of Stamford, New Canaan, and Darien