News

JCRC's Voice in the Press

  go back

Gary Varvel's cartoon of July 7 appears to suggest a moral equivalence between the behavior of Hamas' leader and that of the prime minister of Israel. If this is his point, he is in error.

Israel is a democracy, a nation state and a member of the United Nations. Hamas is a terrorist organization, according to the United States and the European Union, and openly committed to the destruction of Israel. Hamas' latest acts of violence against Israel, which may have been instigated by its leadership in Damascus, operating under the protection of the terrorist state of Syria, are the abduction of a soldier from within Israel's internationally recognized, pre-1967 borders, and persistent firing of rockets from heavily populated Palestinian civilian areas into Israeli towns. Such acts of aggression across international borders are typically defined as acts of war. 

Israel's measured response is designed to stop that rocket fire aimed at its cities and to find the abducted soldier.

Unfortunately, the hardships suffered by the Palestinian people are only magnified by the current crisis. These people need and deserve homes, jobs and peace. Tragically, Hamas' lack of interest in establishing decent government and stability in Gaza, its support of terror and encouragement of "martyrdom" for Palestinian children, its hatred for Israel and Jews are destroying any prospect of a decent life for its own people.

Israel wants peace, and when it had partners such as Egypt's Anwar Sadat and Jordan's King Hussein, both sides made concessions in order to achieve that peace. Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and its clear commitment to a two-state solution reflect a national consensus. Both Israelis and Palestinians deserve peace. Where is the Palestinian partner who rejects violence and values life more than death?

David Warshauer, JCRC President

Marcia Goldstone, JCRC Executive Director