The big lie about ‘Israeli genocide’ | Letter
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Contrary to recent letters parroting Hamas propaganda, Israel does not and did not commit genocide in Gaza. A thorough refutation of the genocide libel is beyond this newspaper’s word limit, but a few of the reasons to reject the libel include the following:
- After Gaza’s leadership ratcheted up its war against Israel — by launching a surprise invasion in which hundreds of people were tortured, raped and murdered, and over 200 were taken hostage — Israel responded as any nation would under such circumstances.
- Israel’s military aim always was to eradicate Hamas and rescue hostages, not to engage in genocide, which requires a specific intent to annihilate a population.
- It is Hamas and other anti-Western terrorist organizations that have openly declared their goal of annihilating a specific population — the Jews of Israel — not the Jewish state.
- Israel has fought its war of self-defense the way modern wars are fought, primarily with aerial strikes, which unfortunately cause collateral civilian deaths along with military targets.
- Israel has sought to minimize civilian casualties by issuing evacuation warnings, opening humanitarian corridors when possible and coordinating aid deliveries.
- Conversely, Hamas has sought to maximize civilian deaths in Gaza for propaganda purposes by embedding its military operations in and under schools and hospitals.
- Neither the International Court of Justice nor any other legal forum has found
Israel guilty of genocide.
To ignore these facts is to succumb to anti-Israel bias. Israel has long been America’s most loyal ally in the Middle East and deserves our country’s continuing support.
Marshall Tinkle
Portland
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Tagged: letter to the editor
