Regarding your comments

Regarding your comments on my letter in your Jan./Feb. 2024 issue, yes, Zionist violence has chilled non-violent Palestinian resistance. Consequently, non-violent resistance alone does not appear to be a winning strategy for Palestinian liberation. Success in freedom struggles usually requires striking the right balance between non-violence and armed force, as Mandela discovered in South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle. Further, that armed force must be carefully modulated so as not to alienate, but garner, all-important public support – especially in the U.S. 

Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack was not regulated in this manner. By deliberately attacking civilians (as well as military targets) they alienated public opinion, facilitated their being labeled “terrorists,” and made their actions hard to defend. Had they targeted only military assets, they could have been far more successful in the crucial public opinion arena. There would still have been collateral civilian casualties, but it would have been possible to justify them as proportional to the potential military gains, thereby complying with international humanitarian law. Had they utilized such a strategy, the abomination of desolation the Zionist beast has created in Gaza would stand out more clearly for what it is: unadulterated genocide. This could have resulted in much greater benefit to the Palestinian narrative.

How might Hamas’ rocket attacks have fit into a nuanced strategy such as this? Even beginning to address this question will require another letter.

Sincerely,

Gregory DeSylva

What universe is this morally acceptable?

Senator Gillibrand:
 
I was sickened to read your comments blaming “bad intelligence” for opinions such as Senator Sanders’ that are critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza. Whatever privileged information you have access to, it cannot change the reality that we are witnessing with our own eyes: dead or orphaned or wounded children, devastated parents, bombed buildings, tens of thousands of people without shelter or food.
 
26,000 dead, including 11,000 children. Entire cities leveled. Almost an entire population displaced.

In what universe is this morally acceptable, Senator Gillibrand?
 
Hamas’s massacre on October 7 was an outrage. The subsequent obliteration, at a historically unprecedented pace, of Gazan lives, homes, universities, schools, hospitals, and a way of life is also an outrage, recognized by most of the world including the International Court of Justice as plausibly genocidal.
 
You are quoted as saying that Israel follows “all of the humanitarian agreements” in a “thoughtful, methodical way.” Murdering 11,000 children may indeed be “thoughtful and methodical” but it is not humanitarian. It is callous, brutal, and chilling to the bone.
 
You claim that there is no truth in “narratives” of occupation and white supremacy. This is simply bizarre. Are you denying Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories since 1967? Are you denying the explicit statements and actions of Israeli political leaders who pass laws that discriminate on the basis of ethnicity and describe Palestinians as vermin and sub-human?
 
You claim that a ceasefire would mean that the hostages are not returned. The opposite is true: an immediate and permanent ceasefire would save the hostages’ lives, at present greatly at risk from Israel’s bombardment.
 
Senator Gillibrand, I don't know what threats or promises have led you to your current position, but I implore you to step away from your Israel-can-do-no-wrong attitude. I implore you to join your colleagues in calling for a ceasefire, supported by 76% of Democratic voters. It is time for you to show courage and leadership.
 
Sincerely, 

Jo

To PBS News Hour

Amna,

In your Jan. 23 report you repeatedly referred to Hamas as "terrorists." Yes, they should not have attacked civilians, but Israel has killed thirty times as many civilians (including some of its own) and counting with its  indiscriminate counterattacks. And Israeli claims of Hamas atrocities are highly suspect and self-serving. (many of their civilian casualties were the result of its "Hannibal Directive" counterattacks).  All Palestinian militants are fundamentally resistance fighters, whereas the Zionist beast's soldiers feed it with Palestinian civilians, children and women, washing them down with Palestinian land and water. They are the true terrorists, Amna, and I think you know it. Why do you have to tread on the graves of the downtrodden Palestiians, Amna?  Is the money that good? Will it buy you forgiveness? Do you think that it could?   

G. DeSylva

Distracted from untold suffering

We forget. We dismiss, we deny, and we are distracted from untold suffering that surrounds us every day.  Not just in Palestine.  EVERY DAY  25,000 die of starvation worldwide.  In the US 772 women are raped or sexually assaulted EVERY DAY.  Twenty-three  million terrified animals are brutally slaughtered EVERY DAY  so we can consume  their flesh.  Extractive industries like mining, logging, and drilling cause suffering and devastation around the globe every day.   And yes,  it’s always about power, privilege, and profit.  And yes,  the perpetrators are often white men.

Many are members of  “big brother’s”  billionaire club  and are determined to commodify, monetize, and digitize all humanity and all life.  And we become numb and accept new normals that degrade  our humanity.  Don’t let Israels’ genocide and ethnic cleansing become normalized.  It’s not.  Don’t be desensitized by the daily reports of atrocities and deaths.  And don’t be fooled by the  well oiled and well financed Israeli/Zionist propaganda machine which spins out lies, distortions, and misinformation to a media that questions nothing.  

For the truth about the fabrications about  beheaded and burned babies or rape and sexual assaults on Oct. 7 read and/or listen to Max Blumenthal https://thegrayzone.com/2024/01/10/questions-nyt-hamas-rape-report/  -  There are more than 23.000 corpses (10,000 are children)  in Gaza, but no water, no food, no electricity. They have no voice, but we do.  Please speak out about  the ongoing  genocidal slaughter   in Gaza (made possible with your tax dollars). 

Eli Kassirer

Dull, stupid sleep

Germans have always been criticized for knowing that the Holocaust was going on and doing nothing to stop it. In truth, during the actual genocide, speaking out against a wartime Nazi regime meant almost certain death. Even passing out leaflets at the University of Munich got a small group called the "White Rose" arrested, tried and beheaded.

Their second of six leaflets had denounced the persecution and mass murder of the Jews: "The German people slumber on in dull, stupid sleep and encourage the fascist criminals. Each wants to be exonerated of guilt, each one continues on his way with the most placid, calm conscience. But he cannot be exonerated; he is guilty, guilty, guilty!"

Today we are free to criticize our government's arming and protecting Israel as it exterminates the Palestinian people. Using the latest US weaponry and drones, Israel is making the home of over 2 million people into a world of rubble. The IDF, self proclaimed as the most moral military force in the world, has slaughtered over 10,000 children and cut the rest of the population off from food, water and shelter. What bombs can't accomplish, starvation and disease surely will.  

This is a genocide, aided and protected by the murderers who run our government. Their pockets are lined with millions from the Israel Lobby (see OpenSecrets.org), like Pat Ryan with $37,650 a year and Kirsten Gillibrand who pulled in $174,104.

So why aren't you speaking out? Still slumbering in dull, stupid sleep?

Fred Nagel

A problem with genocide

Our country has always had a problem with genocide. That is what this new wave of student activists are discovering as they protest the mass murder of Palestinians in Gaza. The US has been doing it for decades, with its bombings and invasions of Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq. Moreover, the Empire has used its air power on any number of additional third world victims, like Nicaragua, Chile, Honduras, Guatemala, Serbia, Libya  Syria, and Cambodia. It's all the same. The empire congratulates itself on its fine ideals and then bombs the hell out of yet another Third World country.

Only this time, student activists can see how our political class is full of pro genocide advocates. Congressman Pat Ryan's good old boy charm can barely disguise his willingness to support Israel's extermination plans. Is he paid off by the Israel Lobby? By the weapons makers? According to OpenSecrets.org, the answer is yes.

In addition, students can now see how eager college administrators are to curtail freedom of speech on campus. Anything to please those rich alums, who expect their million dollar donations will cover up any mass slaughter of Palestinian innocents. College presidents turn out to be as venal as politicians.

Finally, students now realize how subservient our national media is to rich corporations and their war machine. That same media has kept us ignorant of empire for all these years.   

The message to new activists is simple. Down with the empire and the corruption that feeds its war machine.

Fred Nagel

Letter to the Hudson Valley One

Never Again! Means Never Again for Anyone!

New Paltz Women in Black have stood in front of Elting Library every Saturday for almost 22 years. We stand for peace and justice, against wars and militarism, for Black lives, for women's rights and LGTBQ rights, and to save our ravished environment from further degradation.

And we have stood for Palestinian rights, because the Palestinian people have been pushed off their lands, subjected to checkpoints to prevent them from moving freely, had their homes demolished and their fields burned, and their children kidnapped in the middle of the night and thrown into Israeli prisons, where they languish without parents or lawyers, and where they can be held under military rule indefinitely without trial or charges. (These are many of the prisoners who were to be exchanged for Hamas's hostages, if those hostages are not killed first by Netanyahu's bombs or trigger-happy soldiers.)

In Gaza, an Israeli blockade since 2007 has prevented free movement to and from Gaza, including students unable to attend universities abroad, cancer patients unable to travel to get medical care in other parts of the region, families who can't see relatives in the West Bank or in Israel or in neighboring countries.  Gaza has been called the largest open-air prison in the world. Peaceful demonstrations are fired upon by Israeli sharpshooters, and there are no consequences to an Israeli soldier or settler for killing a Palestinian.

Fifty percent of Gaza's 2.2 million people are under 19, which means they've known nothing but blockade and privation for their entire lives.

Why do we care about this? There's plenty of injustice in the world. Why are we focusing on the plight of the Palestinians? Because this injustice is being paid for and approved by the United States Government, using our tax money to the tune of almost $4 Billion per year. U.S. law stipulates that we must not provide foreign aid to any country that is committing human rights abuses. Our money should not be going to Israel to prop up its unjust occupation, land theft, abuse, blockade, home demolitions, and military rule over Palestinians.

On October 7, the pressure cooker blew. Hamas fighters broke out of their prison and attacked nearby civilians and military personnel, killing many and taking hundreds hostage. New Paltz Women in Black agrees with most of the world that there is no justification for the indiscriminate killing of civilians or the holding of civilian hostages.

And now, horrifyingly, the Israeli and American governments are weaponizing the Israeli deaths to fuel a genocidal war against Palestinian civilians in Gaza. This war is a continuation of 75 years of Israeli occupation and ethnic cleansing, and is an attempt to eliminate Palestinians as a demographic factor in historic Palestine.

Since October 7, nearly 20,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in a relentless bombing campaign. Over 80 journalists, plus poets, professors, actors, and intellectuals have died. The Israeli government and military have wrought complete and total devastation on Palestinian life across Gaza, attacking hospitals, schools, universities, libraries, cultural centers, mosques, marketplaces, and apartment buildings. They have shut off all electricity. No food is coming into Gaza, no drinkable water, no fuel for cooking or staying warm, no medicines for the sick, the elderly, the newborn. After more than two months, starvation and disease have begun to take a toll.  Netanyahu has said the Israeli response will "reverberate for generations," and cars carry bumper stickers reading "Finish them." Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel is "fighting human animals" and should "act accordingly."

We all know what happens when people are dehumanized as a group.

We can and must stop the imminent genocide of Palestinians. Never Again! means never again for anyone!

We demand our government immediately stop sending weapons to the Israeli military and using its veto in the Security Council to stop a resolution for an immediate ceasefire. We condemn the "new McCarthyism," right-wing attempts to shut down the conversation about Israeli atrocities, and deliberately conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism.

Tell Pat Ryan to support the Congressional Ceasefire Resolution, which now has over 60 congressional signatures.

And stand with us next Saturday and every Saturday to demand an immediate permanent ceasefire.

Naomi Allen