Israel holds legitimate claim to land

Being an advocate for Israel, I found the guest op-ed piece written by Edward Mast to be very disturbing and lacking in truth regarding the Jewish state and its advocates [“ ‘Israel right or wrong’ crowd advocates censorship in Seattle,” Opinion, Jan. 1]. First and foremost, most of us realize that Israel just like any country is not without fault and we are not opposed to an open conversation. Open conversation, however, is not a one-sided ad.

When Mast refers to the disproportionate response by Israel, he fails to mention that Hamas purposely places bombs and rockets in the civilian population, thus causing a much higher number of casualties. Israel does its best not to target civilians, unlike different groups, like Hamas, which will not even recognize the Jewish state and calls for its destruction.

Using the phrase apartheid to describe Israel is ridiculous and it makes me wonder if Mast is aware of its definition. Does he not realize that Israel has offered a two-state solution more than once to the Palestinian Authority only to be turned down, even when they were given less than half of the original land grant given to them by the League of Nations? Why not explain why Palestinians can and are members of the Knesset, which is hardly apartheid?

Last but not least, Israel does not use Jews around the world to defend it’s cause. I am not Jewish but am Christian and strongly support Israel’s right to exist and defend itself. Do I wish harm on the Arab civilians? No. Neither do I support the Jewish state for religious reasons. I support Israel because history supports their legitimate claim to the land in which there has always been Jewish presence.

— Katie Porter, Kirkland

Israel held accountable by community of nations

Rabbi Jonathan Singer, and 24 fellow rabbis in Seattle/Tacoma, tells us that criticism of Israel in Seattle is part of a “Big Lie,” but in doing so he would have us swallow two Big Lies of his own [“The old anti-Semitism wrapped in the Big Lie,” Opinion, Jan. 4].

First, he would have us equate Israel with Judaism; this is a deliberate tactic used by the right wing in both the U.S. and Israel to silence critics. After all, if Israel is equal to Judaism, then criticism of Israel is, by definition, anti-Semitic. Israel is a political entity, a nation recognized by the international community. Criticism of its behavior is no more anti-Semitic than criticism of Iran is anti-Islamic.

Singer’s second Big Lie is that somehow Israel and Palestine are equivalent. Thus, rockets rained from Gaza on villages in Israel are equivalent action to Israel invading Gaza.

Rockets fired on Israeli civilians is a violation of international law and should be investigated and punished. But Palestine is not a nation recognized by international law — Israel is. As a member of the community of nations, Israel has certain obligations, among them: Sovereign nations must not to occupy land that is outside its recognized borders; an occupier must protect the people in occupied territory and an occupier must not take action that permanently appropriates land in occupied territory.

Finally, Singer repeats the often stated rationale for the occupation, the wall and military action by Israel against Palestine — that this is simply “Jews guilty of defending themselves.” Here again, he deliberately conflates Israel with Judaism. But still, “self-defense” can never be a justification for aggressive, dehumanizing and lethal actions against an occupied people. That is a violation of international law.

If Israel wants to have the moral high ground when making the self-defense argument, it must leave the territories it occupies illegally. That’s what Singer and his 24 fellow rabbis should be promoting, not just more Big Lies.

— Aaron Katz, Seattle

Public buses free of inflammatory claims

Edward Mast’s whiny diatribe is a compilation of his grievances against the state of Israel and its supporters in the U.S., liberally laden with falsehoods and lies that are far too numerous to enumerate in this forum.

Comfortably wallowing in historical revisionism, he conveniently sidesteps the crux of the matter: Metro, a government organization, is under no obligation to provide a platform for incendiary messages and its refusal to do so is not censorship. Had Mast and his associates chosen a commercial or private platform for his advertisement and the government intervened to prevent its publication, that would have been censorship.

Metro’s riders and the residents of Seattle are entitled to have public buses free of inflammatory advertisements and the decision by the King County executive to cancel the advertisements implemented and reaffirmed the right, for which we are all better off in the long run.

— Gabriel Scherzer, Bellevue

Help and hope for Palestinians

I have just a few words to let Rabbi Singer know that, plain and simple, Israel’s actions in Gaza are criminal actions. Israel treats Palestinians as subhuman, has violated international law and used billions of American dollars to commit genocide.

We who believe that all people are human beings will not tolerate Israel’s hatred for the Palestinian people. Campaigns to help the Palestinians will continue to grow as they are growing now. Nothing can stop the help and hope we are sending to them.

— Kathleen Jackson, Port Townsend