To the Editor:
I am responding here to articles and comments published in The MV Times recently, regarding Island events featuring Israel and Palestine.
What is the current most horrifying fact in the Middle East? Is it not that 40,000 known (and many others buried under debris and unknown) Palestinians are dead; schools, hospitals, homes, museums destroyed; a terrified population forced to move to safe places that are not safe; food and water in such short supply that children are dying of starvation? Is this not the fact, the horrendous reality, that we should be focusing on? How can we bear the knowledge of these realities — especially perhaps for children? How can we not do all we can do to pressure our government and candidates to end their support for this evil?
Yet prominent voices insist on focusing on Hamas, on the horrors of Oct. 7, on the supposed anti-Semitism of those of us, Jewish and not, who dare to point out that Palestinians have suffered years of Israeli violence, humiliations, restrictions, forced evacuation from their homes, and destruction of their villages. A stated goal of the Israeli government is to remove Palestinians so their lands can be taken over by Israeli settlers. This is happening now in the West Bank. Twenty-six percent of Gaza is now controlled and occupied by Israeli roads, bases, and buffer zones, preparing for Israeli settlement.
We are forced to listen to Hamas being defined exclusively as terrorist, without any recognition that the Israeli military, many West Bank settlers, and Israeli prison guards are terrorists beyond description, and that Hamas has nonmilitary political and social service functions.
We are encouraged to view a film that details the abuse by Hamas militants in Israel on Oct. 7, a film that can only increase our hatred of Palestinians. And this is at a time when the only path to security for Israel is more and more people forgiving and seeking peace.
I have no interest in denying or minimizing any misery, violence, or historical injustice that has occurred. In a just world, there would be none of these. But I refuse — and encourage you to refuse— to be distracted by the false equivalence of criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism, and the violence of Oct. 7 with the violence of Israel before and since.
Cynthia Aguilar
West Tisbury
