Cathy McNally: Column riddled with unexamined questions

In his Dec. 29 guest column, “Haunted by questions with no good answers,” Jonathan Kahane presents himself as an “asker of questions,” but I wonder if he’s really looking for answers or simply comforting himself with his justification for the obliteration of Gaza and its people.

The central question of his column seems to be, “How can I accept the reasoning that the attempt by Israel to completely eradicate this cancer must stop?” But within that loaded question are many others that Mr. Kahane ignores. First, what is the “reasoning” that Israel’s actions in Gaza “must stop?” Why can’t he accept it? Has he considered it? Can he describe it? What is it specifically he can’t accept? And what is the reasoning that it must not stop?

Second, what is the “cancer” Israel is trying to stop? Who is the “patient” in this analogy? And what’s the carcinogen? And is he sure about what the Israeli government is really trying to eradicate? (Because it seems to many of us that’s it’s not some abstract disease metaphor, it’s thousands of children and their families, homes, and their future.)

On Jeopardy! answers in the form of a question are the rule, but in this case, the unexamined premises embedded in questions like Mr. Kahane’s put the asker at risk of intellectual, if not moral, jeopardy. The answers are there. Please dig deeper.

Cathy McNally

Northampton