Believing lies about Israel is a multi-generational phenomenon

Submitted to the Atlanta Journal Constitution March 15, 2024:

To the editor:

Reading the criticism, contained in Kathleen Collomb's explaining to her granddaughter why she shouldn't boycott President Biden's reelection, of Israel's efforts to prevent Hamas' promised repetition of its barbaric October 7 Massacre, Collomb demonstrates that Zoomers aren't the only ones falling for the lies being propagated about Israel.

Here are some truths about the war Israel has been trying to avoid since terrorists took over control of Gaza in 2007.

For probably the first time in history, this is a war in which one side is trying to maximize suffering and death of its own population while the other side is trying to safeguard the enemy population. Generally unreported has been one of the major reasons why five Gazans got killed when parachutes bringing aid didn't open and the aid fell on top of civilians: the planes dropped the aid from a high altitude because Hamas was firing at them, trying to prevent the aid from reaching civilians in Gaza!

Part of Hamas' war strategy is to create a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, get everyone to blame Israel and force Israel into a ceasefire that would reward Hamas for the pogrom it perpetrated October 7.

Rather than non-combatant deaths in Gaza being extremely high, they've actually been historically low. Whereas the norm in urban warfare is 9 to 1, that is nine non-combatant deaths for each death of a combatant, the ratio in Gaza is not much higher than 1 to 1!

Calling for a ceasefire may sound virtuous, but for Hamas and the other terror groups in Gaza even a "permanent ceasefire" is merely an opportunity to prepare to do precisely what it did on October 7, break the ceasefire with a horrendous, barbaric terror attack. To prevent a repetition, Hamas must be either eliminated or forced into surrendering unconditionally.

Sincerely,

Alan Stein

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