Letters to the editor
Readers respond
Editor’s note:
On Aug. 1, a paid advertisement appeared in the Chronicle titled “An Urgent Open Letter to the Pittsburgh Jewish Community.” In response, we received many letters criticizing the ad. As several of those letters expressed similar viewpoints, a sampling of those letters follows.
Well-meaning, deeply misguided: A response to the ‘Urgent Open Letter’
In the Chronicle’s Aug. 1 issue, some members of the Pittsburgh community purchased space for an advertisement calling it an “Urgent Open Letter to the Pittsburgh Jewish Community.” The letter starts off with an openly political statement: “Corrupt Netanyahu.” From the start, I figured it would be a one-sided blame game advertisement. But the tone of the letter and its statements would make Hamas proud, and it reads like it should be remembered alongside the infamous October 2023 Harvard student organization letter blaming Israel for the Gaza war.
The goals of the letter are admirable and I cannot think of anyone in our community who would not want a permanent end to the war, surging aid to Gazans and bringing the hostages home. But everything above those bullets in the letter is a one-sided blame of Israel.
There’s no mention of Hamas’ interference with aid delivery or the complacent approach and failure of the U.N. to distribute aid. The number and identity of those killing people trying to get aid is questionable, but do these letter signers accept Hamas Health Ministry numbers? The letter’s signatories seem to be swallowing the misinformation and media distortions on the situation in Gaza. They even state that some of their sources are The New York Times and NBC, whose reporting has been often biased or false. Twice, the Times pushed false news, inflaming the situation and hampering the chance for peace. Recall the recent photo of a starving child who has a significant illness — and a very healthy well fed mom; and the hot off the press false news early in the war that Israel bombed a hospital when it was an Islamic Jihad rocket.
Over the past few days it has become clearer there was plenty of aid in U.N. hands that was not getting distributed. And just last weekend Israel agreed to a ceasefire that Hamas refused.
Even the Arab nations finally called for Hamas to be disbanded.
Israel and Jews are facing a death cult of evil and Westerners’ standards of diplomacy and negotiation are not in the Hamas playbook. I know my communal leaders would love peace, too, but not at the expense of Israel’s survival, which is surely in line with Torah values.
Rocky Wice
Squirrel Hill
The ‘Open Letter’ signatories are misguided pawns of terrorist rhetoric
It’s ironic that the signers of the “Open Letter to the Jewish Community” (paid advertisement, Aug. 1) have the chutzpa to publish such propaganda. First of all, if they don’t like Bibi Netanyahu as the leader of Israel, they are free to make aliyah and become part of Israeli society and vote their conscience. The electorate of Israel spoke and Bibi is their leader.
Second, Gaza was handed over to the so-called Palestinian people in 2005. They had every opportunity to show the world they could build a society and live in peace with Israel. Instead, they elected a terrorist organization. Hamas has spent billions building a tunnel network under the Gaza Strip. They hide in hospitals, schools, behind women and children, and in houses of worship. They have fired thousands of rockets at Israel over the years, and on Oct. 7, 2023, they launched an attack killing more than 1,200 people and kidnapping more than 250. Israel has every right to fight back and eliminate Hamas and all terrorist threats. The civilian casualties are the fault of Hamas and its allies, not Israel. This war can end now if Hamas releases all hostages and goes into exile.
The food aid Israel sends is hijacked by Hamas and sold to fund their war. The fact that they cannot steal any more will only help in their defeat. Where is their humanity?
The signatories of the Open Letter are ignorant of history and are just repeating Hamas’ propaganda. They are but pawns.
Andrew Neft
Upper St. Clair
Let’s stand with Israel — not join the chorus of condemnation
Last week’s Chronicle had me wondering if I had accidentally picked up The New York Times. Israel is subject to a massive propaganda campaign, rooted in antisemitism, the success of which was in full evidence in the Chronicle. On Page 7 there appeared a full-page article on the starvation in Gaza, giving little credence to Israel’s assertion that there is no starvation. On Page 8 was a full-page ad calling for a ceasefire, increased aid and bringing the hostages home. On Page 13 a letter urged Pittsburghers to contact elected officials to demand a ceasefire.
A ceasefire now will leave Hamas with weapons, rockets and tunnel infrastructure, able to regroup and massacre again. After 22 months, Hamas still shoots rockets into Israel. So, Israel continues to fight, despite its soldiers being killed and severely injured — something never reported in the mainstream media. While all Israelis want to see the hostages home and an end to the war, polls show that most Israelis do not want it at any cost. There has been a high price paid to degrade Hamas. Most Israelis do not want to have to pay it again.
Civilian casualties are heartbreaking. However, all casualties are attributable to Hamas. They started this war and have purposefully kept civilians in harm’s way. Tragically, since the enemy’s stated goal is Israel’s destruction, Israel must eliminate Hamas, no matter the toll.
There is no mass starvation in Gaza. The only real starvation is that of the hostages being held by Hamas. Israel has facilitated the delivery of massive amounts of aid. There has never been an army expected to provide food and fuel to its enemy civilians. And here it is known that Hamas is stealing the aid!
A front-page story in the Times seared into the world’s brain a picture of an emaciated Palestinian child whose condition was not caused by starvation, but which they showed as proof of Israel’s cruelty. The retraction did not come close to undoing the damage. Be on the lookout for pictures of our skeletal hostages on the front page. But don’t hold your breath.
As for demanding an end to the hostage situation, why does everyone cry “Bring Them Home”? How is Israel supposed to do that? What about directing this at Hamas instead of Netanyahu? How about “Let Them Go”?
The demands and judgments being made of Israel during these difficult, complex times are highly inappropriate. Maybe if Israel had broadly publicized the images of Oct. 7 there would be more sympathy. Evidently the politicians and hardened war correspondents who viewed the film of the atrocities were left nauseated and speechless.
Maybe we fellow Jews can find it in our hearts to replace criticism with prayer and acts of kindness. Do a mitzvah, a good deed, to protect our brothers and sisters as they literally risk life and limb to prevent another holocaust. Leave the Israel criticism to the professionals at The New York Times. They’re doing a fine job without our help.
Dr. Miriam Weiss
Pittsburgh
Lech Lecha
In the Chronicle’s Aug. 1 issue, there was a full-page advertisement titled “An Urgent Open Letter to the Pittsburgh Jewish Community.” The letter expresses the anguish of people that see the horror of what’s happening in Israel and Gaza since Oct. 7. Netanyahu thinks he can defeat Hamas by increasing the suffering of the people of Gaza. His defense minister said that the gates of hell will open in Gaza if Hamas doesn’t surrender. What an evil statement. The gates of hell, both for Palestinians and Israelis, opened on Oct. 7, 2023.
I feel the pain of the signers of the letter. Since Oct. 7, I’ve written numerous letters to the Chronicle expressing my pain and frustration. Unfortunately, expressing one’s feelings in print has little effect on the ongoing disaster.
There is a way to help, if just a little.
Tourism to Israel has plummeted. Israeli businesses and workers are in crisis. I decided that the best way to do something was to fly to Israel. Sure, you can always write a check to some Israeli organization, but going to Israel, directly putting money into the pockets of Israelis, has an immediate effect, from helping the hotel you’re staying at to the falafel shop owner who just sold you lunch. For months I resisted going. I didn’t want to be a “war tourist.” But then I realized that helping put money into the pockets of Israelis was the best way to help. So, if you can, go. Lech lecha.
Mitchell Nyer
Squirrel Hill
What will it take to stop the conflict?
The conflict in Gaza continues. Israeli soldiers continue to die. Palestinian adults and children continue to die. The remaining hostages are still in captivity. Hamas continues to survive. The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle recently reported that “Polls of Israelis consistently show that most prefer a negotiated end to the fighting that releases the remaining hostages. Polling of American Jews indicates that most do not support Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to continue the war.” (“11 experts on what might end the Gaza war,” online, May 15).
Professor Omer Bartov of Brown University, an expert on the Holocaust and genocide, created controversy when he recently said, “My inescapable conclusion has become that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. Having grown up in a Zionist home, lived the first half of my life in Israel, served in the I.D.F. as a soldier and officer and spent most of my career researching and writing on war crimes and the Holocaust, this was a painful conclusion to reach, and one that I resisted as long as I could. But I have been teaching classes on genocide for a quarter of a century. I can recognize one when I see one.” Many have disagreed with his conclusion. But when someone with this background makes this claim, it must be taken seriously. However, I do not think this is an argument worth having. If it is a genocide, it must end. Maybe if it is only (if you can use such a word here) war crimes or crimes against humanity, it still must end.
How should we in the United States and in the American Jewish community respond? Should the tragic killing of tens of thousands of Gazans through malnutrition, displacement and violence be reason enough for us to act? Some suggest that the United States stop selling offensive and defensive weapons to Israel until Israel agrees to a ceasefire. There are two arguments in play here.
If offensive weapons are perpetuating genocide or war crimes, we should stop the sale of offensive weapons to Israel that are contributing to this human tragedy of epic proportions unfolding daily in Gaza. What about the sale of defensive weapons? Would stopping offensive and defensive arms sales persuade the Netanyahu government to agree to a ceasefire?
Some will argue that stopping defensive arms sales will put Israel in jeopardy (e.g., Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez). Isn’t that the Netanyahu government’s decision? If the Netanyahu government thinks stopping the sale of defensive U.S. arms to Israel won’t put Israel in jeopardy, why should we think otherwise?
On the other hand, if the Netanyahu government believes it does need U.S. defensive weapons, would that cause it to agree to a ceasefire? If so, that’s a win-win-win: no more Israeli soldiers killed — no more Palestinians killed — hostages returned.
Mark Fichman and Allan Willinger
Pittsburgh
What about the starving hostages in Hamas tunnels?
Is there starvation in Gaza? (“Experts say Gaza at ‘worst-case scenario,’ famine about to cause ‘widespread death,’” Aug. 1.) Yes, there is. Twenty-five innocent Jews are being slowly, cruelly, intentionally, starved to death. For over 22 months, they have been confined underground, locked up in tunnels, treated like animals, while their captors, Hamas terrorists, have been feasting on food packages stolen from the aid trucks delivered by Israel.
Where are the front page photos of the emaciated Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, who each lost 40% of their body weight? Where is the international condemnation? Where is the Red Cross?
These two men and all of the other hostages are being left to die in a dank, dark narrow tunnel, tortured by Hamas for the crime of being Jews. World, wake up! We can end the war now by demanding that Hamas release the hostages and unconditionally surrender.
Simone Shapiro
Pittsburgh
comments