Worth breaking down the meaning of ‘Israel’ today | Letter

I appreciated Ethan Wolin’s July 22 report of Jewish sentiment regarding Maine’s upcoming Senate race (“After a rocky road with Platner, Jewish Mainers size up the state’s progressive left”).

One important source Mr. Wolin missed was the rabbi of Portland’s Temple Beth-El. In the Yom Kippur service there, almost a year ago, Rabbi Rachel Simmons clarified that the term “Israel” has three meanings: the people of Israel, the land of Israel and the government of Israel. We can be against one without being against all three.

The Netanyahu government and — by its support of that government, the U.S. — has become genocidal. The Arab inhabitants of Israel have not only been destroyed in Gaza, they’ve also been destroyed by ongoing policies in the West Bank that treat Arab rights as inferior to Jewish rights. I’ve even heard Rabbi Gary Berenson, portrayed in the July 22 report as a staunch Republican, voice concern over West Bank policies.

We can count on Sen. Susan Collins to spinelessly support President Trump. If we allow this, then we empower the Christian nationalists and their allied fascists, who have already taken to gunning down innocent people in the streets.

Bill Burge
Cape Elizabeth

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Tagged: letter to the editor