Point of View distorts Israel

To the editor:

When I saw the title “Israel’s George Floyd Moment” in the June 26 edition of The Riverdale Press, I expected outrage over the murders of two young Israeli diplomats in Washington and the Boulder fire-bombing of Jews supporting hostages. Instead, Gay Rosenblum-Kumar added fuel to the fire as Israel fights for post-Oct. 7 survival from the threat of Hamas.

Ms. Rosenblum-Kumar’s news sources have an anti-Israel bias with frequent defaming inaccuracies, while Ha’aretz has a negative slant on its own government.  Inflated death tolls in Gaza don’t distinguish between Hamas terrorists and civilians. Israel strives to minimize the tragedy of civilian casualties, while Hamas uses human shields and steals food from residents.  

Ms. Rosenblum-Kumar should know Jews have been indigenous to the land of Israel since biblical times, surviving waves of conquerors: Greeks, Romans, Ottoman Turks. Later, Arab armies invaded. The modern state of Israel, reconstituted after WWII, remains a critical haven for Jews persecuted worldwide. Israel is fundamental to Jewish identity.

My friend in Israel has a son-in-law who just returned to army service, leaving his wife and two small children to cope with his painful absence yet again. Israelis would love for this war of survival and defense to be over, to be able to live normally. Israeli hostages are still being tortured and starved by Hamas, an enemy that continues to threaten Israel. May the time come soon when they are utterly defeated.

In the meantime, I call on all people of good will to fight anti-Israel/anti-Jewish hate and defamation.

Alisa Eilenberg