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The following is from a very good friend, a retired medical doctor and an insightful mind.
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I am an American Jew. I have always been a staunch supporter of Israel as a refuge for all Jews. I believe in Israel's fundamental right to exist as stated in the United Nation's charter of 1948.
I understand that this decision, made in the wake of the Holocaust, displaced other people and that they also have a right to live in peace and prosperity.
I disagree with the aggressive colonization of the West Bank by orthodox Jewish comminites.
I disagree with those who say Israel has no right to exist.
I disagree that Israel is an apartheid state.
I very much support Israel's right to defend itself and its citizens, and I disagree with those who claim otherwise.
These are differences that are simply not going to be reconciled any time soon.
But perhaps there are beliefs that we all have in common.
Perhaps we can agree that all civilians, Jews and Arabs have a right to live in peace.
Perhaps we can agree that mothers, children and grandparents should not be taken at gunpoint and held as hostages.
Perhaps we can agree, in particular, that an elderly Holocaust survivor should not be seized as a hostage. (That is assuming we agree that the Holocaust actually took place.)
Perhaps we can agree that ruthlessly butchering hundreds of peaceful concert goers is a disgrace.
Perhaps we can agree that ripping innocent children from their mothers' arms and then beheading them is an atrocity so morally repugnant that it beggars the imagination. (If you are a parent or grandparent, please put yourself in this context.)
Perhaps we can agree in the human bankruptcy of parading the half nude body of an innocent civilian through the streets on the back of a pickup truck while shouting "Allah Akbar." A trophy of holy jihad.
Perhaps we can agree on the collective shame of a people cheering on these murderous barbarians as heroes.
Perhaps we can agree that these acts of unspeakable terror were actually perpetrated by terrorists, and not "militants" as a number of Western media are reporting.
Perhaps we can agree that these events actually took place, thanks to the horrific images and videos on X and some other media outlets.
And, perhaps we can agree that a handful of our own politicians should no longer willfully avert their eyes and minds to this unspeakable evil by blaming the victims and minimizing the tragedy of so many families.
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A link to the Hamas Charter.
https://irp.fas.org/world/para/docs/880818a.htm
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