A recent letter-to-the-editor about the Gaza war (“A Preventable Starvation”) buries its essential message — a message that needs to be heard: The people of Gaza face the imminent threat of starvation. It is preventable, and in the name of humanity, the war between Israel and Hamas must end.
There are real causes for outrage here, so it is regrettable that the writer, Rand Clark, chose to communicate in a polemical torrent of moral outrage that is deeply polarizing. He divides the world into “us and them” according to his views on the impact of anti-Semitism. (As a member of the mainstream Jewish community, I appear to be a “them” in his book.)
Because I am Jewish, October 7 and the Gaza war are personal to me. I have Israeli friends and family. Like all Israelis, their lives have been trauma-filled since October 7. October 7 was a jarring reminder that anti-Semitism is lethal. The fact that some pro-Palestinian organizations still characterize it as a legitimate act of resistance feels personal to me, too. At the same time, I want to believe in Israel as an aspirational country. It hurts my soul to witness Israel conducting itself with such indefensible brutality toward Gaza’s civilian population.
We are all challenged to understand what’s happening in Gaza with clarity and honesty. But in the name of humanity, it should be possible for the Jewish community, and those who identify primarily as pro-Palestinian, to make common cause, whatever our differences. The peoples of Gaza and Israel are suffering, albeit in different ways, and both have been mightily betrayed by their respective leaderships. The war is a plague on both their houses, and it must end.
