To the Editor:
I am writing in response to the coverage in the Martha’s Vineyard Times of the recent Jewish Culture Festival and the selected letters to the editor which, combined, present a one-sided view of the event. Like Matisyahu, and the vast majority of Jews, I am a Zionist, meaning I believe in the right to Jewish self-determination. I am also a writer (and a proud former columnist of the Times) who has seen the voices of my colleagues silenced by “no Zionists allowed” hyperbole. Trying to silence the voices of artists with whom you don’t agree is censorship and no different than the right-wing book banners I’m sure these same protesters disagree with. I also must object to the language found in David Mintz’s letter to the editor. First, he references Israel’s war against Gaza when the war is against Hamas. He then accuses Israel of committing “the most atrocious war crime of the century.” Worse than the Holocaust, than the violence in Sudan, Syria, Myanmar, than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? War is tragic enough without resorting to inflammatory statements such as these. And what is happening now is a war, not genocide. Roughly half of those killed so far have been enemy combatants, the other half civilians who I mourn every day along with the rest of the world. The total comes to under 40,000 people out of a total population of 2.1 million. Horrific. Not a genocide and also not the sole fault of Israel. But the main issue I think so many of us have is that an event to celebrate a rich and diverse culture, under a literal and metaphorical broad tent, was covered with such bias so the reader walks away with no more understanding of Jewish heritage and culture than they had already.
Judith Hannan
Chilmark
