To the Editor:
Can the weak mind of the world traverse the serial difference between Israel and Hamas? One side decapitates and sells severed heads, and the other does not, and many cannot see a difference. Billions sent to Gaza since 2005, but only one election, and rivals eliminated. The money goes to building tunnels under hospitals, mosques, and schools — military-style. Hamas knows Israel will not wantonly kill Gaza occupants, and it knows Israel will not strike areas shielded by hospitals and schools. Hamas also knows it will use hostages as shields, will kill civilians, won’t warn anybody, and will be barbaric. The strategic asymmetry is stunning, but escapes so many. One side has turned a desert into an oasis, and produced technology that betters the world — the other side is nihilist, builds nothing, creates nothing, and destroys all it sees while mutilating, beheading, raping, torturing, and relentless rocketing and lying.
We here in the U.S. believe Hamas press releases, protest everywhere, while defacing Jewish flags, synagogues, and our own memorials and cemeteries. We break the law, chide the police, scream obscenities, and call for gassing of Jews, while often assaulting Jews on campuses and accusing Israel of genocide.
We cannot distinguish between good and evil on elite campuses, in the halls of government, or even with some on M.V.
But since Oct. 7, something strange has happened that no one expected. While college mobs celebrated the “exhilarating” slaughter of 1,400 Israelis, culpable college teachers and students are suddenly finding a new commitment to free speech, to proffer hate. This became a wake-up for liberals who’ve ignored evidence of the illiberal intolerance of their fellows. My nemesis on this site, but firmly my friend on this issue — Jackie Mendez — now wonders why so many of her friends and allies on the left not only fail to morally condemn the slaughter, but actively support the other side. Maybe a new ideological awakening.
Andrew Engleman
Stuart, Fla.
