Too counterproductive

To the editor:

Being at Hostages Square and wanting to support the hostages and their families, I bought a dog tag, a cap, and a T-shirt and have worn them, but with mixed feelings because I believe the message on them, “Bring Them Home Now,” is the wrong message directed at the wrong party. The message should be: “Force Hamas to Let Our People Go.”

The far too few hostages who were released would still be in Gaza were it not for the military pressure applied to Hamas; to bring the rest of them home, we must not just maintain but increase the pressure on Hamas. Pressuring our government to make a deal encourages Hamas, makes any deal to release any of the remaining hostages less likely, and raises the price if another deal ever gets made.

After the recent ramping up of pressure on our government by some of the families, and reading the analysis by Herb Keinon in “Mixing messages in protest misses mark” (April 1), I feel it would be too counterproductive to display the message which my dog tag, cap, and T-shirt contain.

I would like to buy a dog tag, cap, and T-shirt which read: “Force Hamas to Let Our People Go.”

ALAN STEIN

Netanya

Published in the Jerusalem Post April 3, 2024. The following is the original version submitted May 31 with the subject "We need to send the right message to Hamas":

To the editor:

Being at Hostage Square and wanting to support the hostages and their families, I bought a dog tag, a cap and a t-shirt and have worn them, but with mixed feeling because I believe the message on them, "Bring Them Home - Now!," is the wrong message directed at the wrong party. The message should be "Force Hamas to Let Our People Go."

The far too few hostages who were released would still be in Gaza were it not for the military pressure applied to Hamas; to bring the rest home, we must not just maintain but increase the pressure on Hamas.

Pressuring our government to make a deal encourages Hamas, makes any deal to release any of the remaining hostages less likely and raises the price if another ever gets made.

After the recent ramping up of pressure on our government by a small proportion of the families, I feel it would be too counterproductive to display the message my dog tag, cap and t-shirt contain.

Where can I buy a dog tag, cap and t-shirt with the message "Force Hamas to Let Our People Go?"

Sincerely,

Alan Stein

Netanya

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