Supporting those who massacre Jews is not a sane aspect of Jewish identity

To the editor:

It's just over six months since Hamas, along with other terror groups and thousands of ordinary Gaza civilians, perpetrated the worst slaughter of Jews since the Shoah. Polls in November showed 98% of the Arabs in the Palestinian Authority and Gaza felt more proud of their Palestinian identity thanks to that atrocity.

Israel had no alternative but to defend its citizens to prevent Hamas from carrying out its promise to repeat that slaughter "again and again." Despite the vile nature of its enemy, Israel has done more than any other army in history to prevent unnecessary harm to the civilians in Gaza, few of whom are actually innocent.

My first thought, reading the headline "I'm Jewish, and I've covered wars. I know war crimes when I see them" of Peter Maass' April 9 commentary was that it's pretty clear he's hallucinating. This was confirmed "again and again" by the content of his misguided article, but he really went over the edge when he endorsed "the defense of Palestinians," almost all of whom celebrated that slaughter, "being an act of Jewish identity." This perversity is particularly obvious by the way he simultaneously demonizes Israel for having the chutzpah to act in self-defense.

Maass admits his "Jewish identity was always a bit vague." That may be the only accurate phrase in his commentary.

Sincerely,

Alan Stein

Sent to the Washington Post April 12, 2024

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