Erika Dreifus

There is so much important writing appearing this difficult week that I must provide a follow-up to Monday’s post.

From Liel Leibovitz:
“Anyone with a genuine commitment to human rights—not to mention sympathy for the Palestinian cause—should join Israel in its efforts to rid the world of such sheer evil and topple Hamas. To leave Hamas in power is not a moderate solution to anything. It is to become complicit in the agenda and the actions of a terrorist organization in inflicting terrible and continuing pain not only on its neighbors but also on its own people.” (“Some Concrete Facts About Hamas,” Tablet)

From Rabbi Daniel M. Cohen:
“At the same time, while there are indeed, ‘many strong opinions,’ not all opinions are equally valid. And while I know it is not politically correct to say so, some opinions are simply wrong.” (“Sorry, Jon Stewart, There Are Opinions, and There Are Facts,” New Jersey Jewish News)

From Rabbi Menachem Creditor:
“Some will call this needless hyperbole. But, having watched in this last week anti-Semitic ‘die-ins’ in Boston, violent assaults against Jews in Los Angeles and Antwerp, and an almost pogrom at a synagogue in Paris, I’m done mincing my own words.” (“I’m Done Apologizing for Israel,” The Huffington Post)

From Gal Beckerman:
“This is not to say that the mood and immediacy captured by journalists on Twitter will always work against Israel. But in a battle involving asymmetric defense systems, in which the vast majority of the casualties are on the Palestinian’s side, Twitter punches you in the gut on behalf of those civilians in a way that overwhelms much else.” (“Israel Has a New Worst Enemy: Twitter,” The Forward)

From an editorial in Haaretz:
“When the fighting ends Jews and Arabs will have to live together again. We mustn’t let the dark forces deepen the rift and tear apart his important partnership, which is the basis of life in Israel.” (“Don’t Let War Tear Israel’s Jews, Arabs Apart”)

From Sarah Tuttle-Singer:
“So basically, while I grew up on ‘The Wheels on the Bus go Round and Round,’ my kids know a song about what to do during a rocket attack.” (“This Is Not a Test: Motherhood in Israel,” ScaryMommy.com)

From Ari Shavit:
“What the Israel Air Force pilots are doing right now is allowing the only Jewish state to exist. What Golani, Paratroopers, and Nahal soldiers are doing right now is ensuring that the only democracy in the Middle East will survive. Israelis living in the south are currently facing a diabolical effort to bring our house down over our heads. Even as the images coming out of Gaza are extremely difficult, we cannot forget this. We are not Goliath. We were David, we remain David, and as David, we defend ourselves.” (“In This Sad War Story, Israel Is in the Right,” Haaretz)