What do Hamas backers want?

To the Editor:  

Hamas terror supporters on social media, in schools, in unions, and on the streets, are calling for the destruction of Israel and the death of all Jews worldwide.  Chants of “intifada,” “jihad,” “from the river to the sea Palestine will be free” all mean the same thing — a world without the Jewish State or Jewish people.

Hamas has diverted billions in Gazan aid for terror tunnels and for weaponry to attack Israel, while they train armies of Gazan youngsters to hate Israel and kill Jews. They embed their military machine within civilian infrastructure such as mosques, schools, and hospitals, use Gazan civilians as human shields, and steal incoming food and supplies from relief trucks and from homes.

Israel Defense Forces have found that 12 percent of their missiles misfire into Gaza, causing civilian casualties. Hamas supporters are not helping the Palestinians.

It is an inevitable tragedy of war that Gazan civilians are dying, despite Israel’s incurred risks and extensive efforts to avoid civilian casualties. It is also a tragedy that many Israeli soldiers have given their lives, leaving behind so many bereaved. 

Israel did not initiate this war — Hamas did.

Those who demand a ceasefire by Israel are condoning future Oct. 7 style massacres that Hamas vows to commit, until Israel is destroyed. Like any nation, Israel has a right to defend itself. Israel has not forgotten the butchery at a music festival, the beheading of babies, the rape, the torture, the burning alive of human beings, the utter destruction of communities, the wounding of thousands, the taking of hostages: babies, children, teens, women and men still enduring mental and physical torture in underground dungeons. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been displaced from their homes and businesses due to ongoing missile strikes.

Congressman Ritchie Torres said it best at his recent talk at Central Synagogue in honor of MLK Day:  “I was profoundly shaken not only by Oct. 7 but by the aftermath.  I found it utterly horrifying. To see fellow Americans openly cheering and celebrating the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. 

I call on my neighbors, on all people of faith and good will, to stand with Israel and the Jewish People at this time of rising hate and violence.  Say no to antisemitism wherever it erupts. Oppose those who demonize and delegitimize Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, ancient Jewish homeland, and critical U.S. ally.

Say no to the cruelty of Hamas terror, the likes of which we experienced here on 9/11. Terror ultimately endangers us all.  

Alisa Eilenberg