Dear Editor:
Re: ‘Anti-war,’ Oct. 10.
Congratulations and thanks to Richard Baumgarten for having the courage to voice what many others have been afraid to say, lest they be labelled antisemitic. I, too, am not anti-semitic or pro-Palestinian. I, too, am anti-war and the persecution of people.
Baumgarten is right on many fronts, including the fact that this current conflict did not begin on Oct. 7, 2023, that Israel has illegally occupied and suppressed the Palestinians for decades and the irony of a country that was born out of persecution in turn persecuting others.
When is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) going to decide that Hamas has been vanquished? When they have killed another 40,000 innocent Palestinians; 80,000, or more? When in the process they have managed to kill all the remaining hostages that are still alive?
Israel has practiced Apartheid for years. When it was rampant in South Africa, the world was vocal and united in their condemnation. Why is Israel so different? Apartheid disappeared in South Africa, not because of sanctions, but because two peace-loving individuals recognized that, for peace to be established, they had to lay down their arms and talk.
That is what must happen in the Middle East. Unfortunately, it is unlikely with Netanyahu and his cabinet in charge. The last thing they want is two separate states where the Palestinians can democratically rule themselves without control and interference from Israel.
The end goal, as expressed by Netanyahu and members of his cabinet over the past year, seems to be for the Palestinians to be moved into the desert and for Israel to claim the whole of Palestine as its own. Is the world, once again, going to stand by and watch this happen?
Thomas Jefferson famously stated, “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”
Enough is enough is enough.
Sandra Solomon,
Belwood