To the Editor:
Yesterday, I shared some photos to social media of a swastika that was displayed at the pro-Palestine rally at Five Corners. The images circulated quickly, and The MV Times made its own report later last night.
While the sight of a swastika being waved in public on our beautiful Island is shocking, I, and many others, were comforted when we heard from those who were present that the swastika bearer did not represent them or their protest, and that the protesters immediately condemned him and had the symbol torn down.
Their words were comforting. But only just a little.
As I drove by the protest yesterday, there was something else that I noticed as well. Something that, to me, was just as painful as the sight of a swastika.
Try as I might, I could not find among the crowd a single banner calling for the release of 240 Israeli hostages held in captivity by Hamas in Gaza.
What I did see were signs that called for a ceasefire — which, in the absence of a demand for the release of the hostages, is equivalent to calling for the death of those in captivity and a victory for Hamas. A ceasefire without Hamas’ surrender encourages Hamas to repeat the mass murders of Oct. 7, as they have openly and recently vowed to repeat if given the opportunity.
I also saw signs that read “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a slogan that does not call for a two-state solution or Palestinian self-determination, but rather, quite literally, for the extinction of the state of Israel.
So while I’m glad the protesters denounced the swastika holder, it was only semi-comforting.
For me, and I’d venture to suggest, for the overwhelming majority of the Island’s Jewish community — calling for Hamas’ victory and the dismantling of Israel is just as painful as the sight of a swastika.
A swastika symbolizes “death to Jews.” But chants such as “From the river to the sea,” and protests that ignore the hostages, verbalize it.
To be clear, I am sure most of the protesters only had good intentions in mind. Images coming out of Gaza are horrific, and any human being should be pained at the sight of innocent human suffering, and disgusted by Hamas’ use of human shields.
But I’m afraid to say that the event organizer’s intentions seem less noble than the protesters who innocently joined him.
In a letter to The MV Times last week, the protest organizer unabashedly parroted calls for the dismantlement of Israel, and cynically pinned the blame for the Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7 on Israel, justifying the massacre as an expected act of resistance to oppression.
Calls for the dismantlement of Israel are, in essence, and by no stretch of the imagination, a call for the murder of the 7 million Jews who live there.
What should happen to the Jews of Israel when it is dismantled? Leave them to the mercy of the terrorists who openly call for their murder?
And arguing that the Hamas attacks should be contextualized as acts of resistance makes me wonder if the protest organizer would also accept American Jewish blood on the altar of self-determination — as Hamas calls for — or is it only the unlucky Jews in Kfar Aza and Be’eri who are acceptable targets?
I would rather not know the answer to these questions, but I would rather the protesters know about the organizer’s motive and ideology — which he elaborated on last week.
So I’m writing this letter as a service to the protesters. I’m glad that you denounced the swastika holder. You are right to be appalled. But precisely because you were so appalled, I ask that you realize that calls for dismantling Israel are just as painful as the sight of a swastika.
And if you decide that you do want to continue protesting at Five Corners next week, I ask you just one thing: Include a sign that calls for the surrender of Hamas and the release of the Israeli hostages. But until you do that, please spare me your moral outrage.
I wish for peace for us, and for all of humanity.
Tzvi Alperowitz, rabbi and director
Chabad on the Vineyard
