NOVEMBER 16 • 2023 | 9

liberty and the pursuit of 
happiness.

When you say, “from the 
river to the sea,” I hear 
you calling for another 
Holocaust.
During World War 
II, 6 million Jews were 
systematically murdered 
because they were Jews. 
When you say, “From the 
river to the sea, Palestine 
will be free,” it sounds 
like you are calling for the 
annihilation of the millions 
of Jews who reside in Israel: 
the state that exists between 
the River Jordan and the 
Mediterranean Sea. 
This land has been 
continuously inhabited 
by the people of Israel for 
more than 3,000 years, even 
though multiple nations 
have come and gone. 
More recently, on multiple 
occasions since the middle 
of the 20th century, Israel 
accepted compromise plans 
by which it would share this 
land with Arab neighbors. 
Each time, the Arab 
countries rejected the plan 
and launched wars against 
Israel. Since 2006, despite 
thousands of rockets fired 
from Gaza toward civilians 
in Israel, Israel accepted 15 
ceasefire agreements with 
Hamas. Hamas violated 
every one of them. 
The Middle East is home 
to more than 20 Arab 
countries and more than 
475 million Arabs. The 
Jewish State is a miniscule 
island in a sea of Arabia, and 
Israel seeks simply to offer a 
free and secure home to its 
citizens, many of whom are 

descendants of Jews forcibly 
removed from those Arab 
countries. Israel has a right 
to exist as a Jewish state and 
to defend its citizens from 
attack.

When you say, “Israel is an 
apartheid state,” I hear you 
repeating an inaccurate, 
misleading claim that 
holds Israel to a standard 
different from every other 
country in the world.
All Israeli citizens possess 
equal rights and receive 
equal protection from the 
government, regardless 
of religion, ethnic origin, 
sexual orientation or 
gender. In Israel, there are 
Arab political parties, Arab 
Supreme Court justices, 
Arab doctors, lawyers and 
more. 
Moreover, though the 
Palestinian residents of 
Gaza and the West Bank 
are not citizens of Israel, 
thousands of work visas are 
granted to allow them to 
work in Israel. Certainly, the 
relationship between Jews 
and Palestinians living in the 
West Bank is complicated, 
as is the partitioning of 
that land. There is no such 
confusion regarding Gazans. 
Any analogies between the 
apartheid of South Africa 
and the relationship between 
Jews and Muslims in Israel 
are simply inaccurate and 
ill-willed.

When you say, “Stop 
Israeli occupation of 
Gaza,” I hear you engaging 
in reductionism that 
originates in Jew hatred. 
In 2005, Israel unilaterally 

withdrew from Gaza. 
The residents of Gaza 
immediately destroyed the 
homes and infrastructure 
that Israel had created. In 
2006, Gazans elected the 
terrorist organization Hamas 
to govern Gaza. Because 
Hamas continually threatens 
and attacks Israel, Israel 
has engaged in a measured 
blockade of the area, trying 
to prevent weapons from 
entering Gaza but allowing 
humanitarian aid to enter. 
 Hamas seizes that 
humanitarian aid, denies 
supplies to residents in need, 
and instead uses the aid 
toward the construction of 
rockets and terrorist tunnels. 
The only Jews to dwell in 
Gaza since 2005 are those 
that Hamas took hostage on 
Oct. 7, 2023, and, therefore, 
any claims of “occupation” 
are entirely false and meant 
to cast aspersions against the 
Jewish people. 

When you say “ceasefire,” 
I hear you telling me that 
Palestinian lives are more 
important than Israeli lives.
Since 2006, Israelis 
— Jews, Christians and 
Muslims alike — have lived 
under a regular barrage 
of thousands of rockets 
coming from Gaza. From 
time to time, Israel responds 
militarily to the rocket fire 
and attempted terrorist 
infiltrations. Fifteen times 
Israel reached a ceasefire 
agreement with Hamas, and 
15 times Hamas has broken 
the agreement. 
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas 
terrorists violated Israeli 
sovereignty to murder, 

maim, rape, torture, behead 
and kill more than 1,200 
Israelis. 
Expecting peace in the 
Middle East by establishing 
yet another ceasefire without 
the removal of Hamas is the 
“definition of insanity”— 
doing the same thing over 
and over again but expecting 
different results. Sadly, 
warfare is the only way to 
rid a region of terrorism 
and that is Israel’s goal in 
fighting Hamas.
It is said that if all the 
Arabs were to put down 
their weapons, there would 
be peace in the Middle East. 
However, if the Israelis were 
to put down their weapons, 
there would be no Israel. 
Now, we know even further 
that if the Jews put down 
their weapons, not only 
would there be no Israel, but 
there would be annihilation 
of the Jewish people. 
Now is the time for good, 
caring people around the 
world to rally to Israel’s 
defense by allowing Israel to 
remove Hamas from power. 
This is just as much an act 
of kindness and compassion 
toward the Palestinians as 
it is to the Israelis, all of 
whom live at risk because of 
Hamas. 
When terrorism is elim-
inated, then compassionate 
and caring people can be 
both “Pro-Palestinian” and 
“Pro-Israel.” 
When terrorism is 
defeated, then there can truly 
be peace for everyone. 

Rabbi Aaron Starr is a spiritual leader 

at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in 

Southfield.

