A few comments that I received in response to “The Moral Crisis Pricking the Conscience” have led me to put aside the post intended for today. Instead, I will respond to those who have written.
Democratic Representative Ritchie Torres addressed the Israel on Campus Coalition Summit. Torres stated: “We have to remind the world that despite the amnesia; Hamas is the central cause of [Israel’s] war in Gaza. The primary responsibility for a war lies with its cause … Hamas is morally responsible, principally responsible for the war in Gaza.”
In a two-month period, more than 23,500 Jews have petitioned for food and medical relief for Palestinians living in Gaza. In the course of this week, 750 rabbis, 100 congregations, synagogues, and organizations have signed the statement “Jews for Food Aid for People in Gaza.” An open letter demanding that Israel “stop using starvation as a weapon of war” was signed by over 1,000 rabbis. The Netanyahu government denies the allegations of withholding relief aid.
Israel has steadily lost support for the war among Americans. A Gallup poll establishes this decline. As reported in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency by Philssa Cramer:
“The poll by Gallup is the latest in a series by the polling firm about U.S. attitudes about the war. Early on, in November 2023, it found that half of Americans approved of the actions Israel was taking in Gaza, and fewer disapproved. (Some said they did not know.) By last June, more Americans disapproved than approved, Gallup found, but there was still 42% approval.
Now, after more than a year later, the proportion of Americans who say they approve of Israel’s war in Gaza has fallen to 32%, according to the poll. Among Democrats, who started out at 36% approval, the proportion has fallen to just 8%.”
The War in Gaza has left Israelis feeling vulnerable, afraid, and angry. The division between Jews are deep. There are those who are critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war. Others are supportive of the war effort to destroy Hamas. In many respects, this war has become an existential issue for Jews. At its heart is the issue of Jewish survival. We have witnessed an increase of 340% of antisemitic incidents worldwide in 2024. The Anti-Defamation League reports that in the United States, there were 9,354 incidents in 2024, up from 8,800 in 2023, an 84% increase, 58% of these have referenced either Israel or Zionism. These figures are for 2024.
History has taught us that regardless of what country we live in, our standing in that nation is at best tenuous. As has often been said, antisemitism is a light sleeper. We have heard of attacks on Israel and Judaism from the political left and the right. New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, and others, don’t use the expression “globalize the intifada,” but neither does he or others denounce it. On the right, there are the Christian Nationalist, Holocaust deniers, and those in the Administration who hold and promote antisemitic views.
Ethnicity and religion are neither a criterion nor the basis for American citizenship. However, I think this appears to be changing based on the political rhetoric pertaining to immigrants. Who will be next? I do not believe that the Administration and others are committed to fighting antisemitism. They seem more intent on attacking academic institutions, and education in general under the guise of addressing the issue. This is not to say Jewish students and professors aren’t being subject to harassment, violence, and discrimination. What is being said here is that the Administration’s policies have divided the Jewish community. President Trump operates this way. He divides to conquer. All citizens should be leery of this management style.
I do not think calling for an end to the war is anti-Israel. I do not think it is anti-Israel to be for political change, a new government, in the State of Israel.
There is much more that could have been done earlier to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza by Israel, the United States, European, and Arab nations.
I am not one who thinks that calling for humanitarian aid for Palestinians is anti-Israel. Hamas hides behind civilians. Hamas hides in hospitals and tunnels while leaving civilians above ground. What I think is that the IDF should be setting up field hospitals and food distribution centers in coordination with the UN rather than these rogue American groups that have, along with Hamas, created chaos.
We should be distraught over what is occurring. We have a moral obligation to act. We should be skeptical of those who say they stand with us while undermining our values and having antisemites standing at their side.
Image: Know Justice Know Peace
Artist: Amos Kennedy (American, born Lafayette, Louisiana, 1948)
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Drawings and Prints
Gift of Nappy-negroes in art, 2020
Charles van Heck's Woodhull Journal 
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