…

It’s complex, like all difficult issues seem to be.

But, at least for me, it starts with a simple question: “Does Israel have a right to exist?”

It stems from the historical fact of antisemitism, but especially the Holocaust, which is a fact still widely denied even among some living today in America, perhaps in your neighborhood or state.

Iran does not believe Israel has a right to exist.

Hamas, which is a recognized terrorist organization funded and supported by Iran, has one raison d’etre, formed for one purpose and one alone: the destruction of Israel and the eradication of all Jews.

And Hamas exists directly across the border of Israel.

Some forget the precipitating event of the current crisis, the attack by Hamas last October 7 on over 1,200 Israelis (the equivalent of murdering more than 40,000 Americans because Israel has a small population) – women, children, babies!, the elderly, the unarmed and unprotected, slaughtered in their homes, hundreds taken hostage, many still held to this day…

That fact does not mean we cannot now condemn the brutality unleashed by Israel on Gaza.

I can understand feeling that every trace of Hamas must be erased from ever being able to perpetrate such slaughter on Israeli civilians again. And I can also weep at the slaughter of innocent Palestinian civilians – women, children, the elderly – in the pursuit of that goal.

Hamas hides behind civilians knowing the outcry civilian deaths will cause. Hamas wants us to see dead children on our TV screens every day! It suits their purpose.

I remember how we in America felt after the attacks of 9/11.

I remember the tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi and Afghan civilians killed during the campaign to destroy Al-Qaeda.

Imagine Al-Qaeda, supported and armed by a state dedicated to the eradication of the United States, right across our borders.

But protesting against wanton slaughter, protesting for a Palestinian state and civil rights for Arabs who live within the boundaries of Israel does not extend to supporting a terrorist organization and the nations that arm and support them in their efforts to kill all Jews and destroy Israel.

Many, many Israelis and Jews in America disagree with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s policies in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.

The specific hatred of Jews though is vile and repugnant and should be called out each time we see it.

Each and every time!

Violence targeting Jews in America has been rising for years, even before Gaza. That is an undeniable fact. And it is up to us to stand up and speak out against it.