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Etna Council resolution is ‘the height of chutzpah’
When did the members of the Etna Borough Council become experts in Middle East foreign policy, notably the war in Gaza? (“Etna Borough Council passes cease-fire resolution,” April 26.) This war was initiated on Oct. 7 by the designated terrorist organization Hamas, with its execution of cruel, barbaric and heinous crimes against humanity.
The expertise of the council members is immediately called into question as they refer to Gaza as “occupied territory.” Are they ignorant of the fact that Israelis have not lived in Gaza since 2005, when the Israeli government removed nearly 10,000 of its citizens from Gaza in hopes of achieving a permanent peace with its Arab neighbors? For this goodwill gesture, Israelis have suffered terrorist attacks, kidnappings and 19 years of rocket attacks aimed at their nearby communities and cities. Imagine if Sharpsburg, Aspinwall and Glenshaw, the communities that border Etna, had deadly rockets poised to fire at any moment, and Etna had to live under the constant threat of knowing its enemies had fired rockets all too frequently in the past. Nevertheless, while Israel faces many graver threats from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran, it is constantly pressured to use restraint, to withdraw and to enter a permanent cease-fire agreement with Hamas, which has held our hostages for months — a major war crime.
Etna council members might remember that there was a cease-fire agreement in effect on Oct. 7, which did not deter Hamas from its barbaric attack. And this is what its resolution is calling for: entering into an agreement with an enemy who is determined to eliminate
Israel and the Jewish people.
It is the height of chutzpah to tell Israel how to prosecute its existential war while sitting in the comfort and security of the United States. No nation in the history of warfare has executed a war with greater care for the civilian population, which includes many who are supportive of Hamas, including UNRWA. What other country in the annals of warfare has sent humanitarian aid, often hijacked by Hamas, to feed its enemy?
I would urge all the council members to heed the sensible words of Etna’s mayor, Robert Tuñón, who along with several others, opposed this resolution, suggesting that “the council should deal with issues like the recent flooding in the borough.”
In reality this war is not just about Israel. It is about the preservation of Western civilization and its values of freedom and democracy. Instead of passing resolutions that embolden Hamas, we should be expressing our eternal gratitude to Israel for the enormous sacrifices it continues to make in fighting this just war for all of us.
Helene Wishnev
Pittsburgh
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