Although it was not the first time I’ve read a one-sided hate filled opinion from this local clergy (“The butcher and the megalomaniac,” by the Rev. Peter Kakos, Gazette, April 19), I am shocked that a “person of God” continues to write such antisemitic vitriol.
First, to introduce Israel’s right to defend itself and its people, Kakos writes about “… relentless pursuit of the eradication of an ancient people …” By my account, that’s what’s been happening to Jews for centuries. Reverend, you “hate” Israel’s policies and murderous regime, but on Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas didn’t target soldiers, they didn’t storm checkpoints or military outposts. They raped women, beheaded babies. They burned families alive. They slaughtered and bombed civilians in their homes.
And as we mourned our dead, Reverend, the world didn’t mourn with us, it rallied against us. College students held “Glory to Martyrs” signs, protesters waved swastikas in Sydney, gas the Jews was graffitied in Berlin, all while our hostages were still bleeding in tunnels.
This is not about Donald Trump or Benjamin Netanyahu. Most Israelis want peace. They want to coexist. They don’t want to dominate. They simply want to live, freely, proudly, unapologetically. Those of us who believe in these principles ask you to stop writing words aimed at fueling hate towards us, just as we’ve asked countless times throughout history. You write of atrocities, but the hate and killing came before 1948. Before the state of Israel existed. Before a single border was drawn.
Never again is not a slogan, it’s what we must remember to stay alive.
Veronica Darmon
Northampton