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.