Commentary: At long last, Gaza is a topic of discussion in Croton-on-Hudson
Recent letters in The Gazette suggest that those horrified by the huge number of civilian deaths are starting to speak out. That is a good thing, and we need more of it.
Let there be no mistake: The Croton Chronicle’s editorial policy is against racism and bigotry of all kinds, no matter who the targets and who the perpetrators. We are also against war crimes, genocide, and other examples of violent and murderous dehumanization of whole peoples. So we have no problem saying that what Hamas and its allies did on October 7 of last year were war crimes.
For the same reason, we have no hesitation in saying that Israel’s actions against the people of Gaza since the first days after those attacks—collective punishment of civilians and other noncombatants, including many thousands of children—are also war crimes. In saying that, we are in concert with virtually every human rights organization in the world, including those in Israel itself.
Do Israel’s actions amount to genocide? The International Court of Justice has already concluded that the accusation is “plausible,” although it has not yet issued a final ruling. Meanwhile, some leading human rights experts who have hesitated to call Israel’s actions genocide up until now have changed their minds and declared that it is. President Joe Biden himself has called Israel’s bombing of Gaza “indiscriminate” and “over the top,” even as his administration continues to supply the weapons and the political support essential to Israel’s continued assaults on the strip and its people.
Right after October 7, there were two or three letters in The Gazette rightly condemning the Hamas-led attacks that killed 1200 Israelis. Since then there has been mostly silence. We have a vibrant Jewish community in our village (the Chronicle’s editor counts himself as part of it) and it may be normal to assume that Croton’s Jews will form a block in support of Israel, no matter what it does. That assumption, and a sincere desire not to do or say anything that might be considered “divisive” in our relatively small community, may be partly responsible for the silence.
But meanwhile, Croton’s Jews have been struggling with the limits of their loyalty to Israel, often in private but also in public. (The Chronicle reported on one such public event fairly recently.)
But now the silence is being broken, and we think that is a good thing. The past couple of weeks, the letters page of The Gazette has featured a debate between Ben Faber and Dr. Paul Kleinman over some of the issues raised by the continuing war, and in last Friday’s issue, former trustee Sherry Horowitz made an impassioned plea for a ceasefire. As Horowitz wrote:
“At this point, more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 14,000 children. An estimated 10,000 additional Palestinians may be buried under the rubble of the bombed buildings. An additional 80,000 Palestinians have been wounded, without any chance of receiving appropriate medical attention, as only one hospital in Gaza still stands, and that without power or medicine.”
In our view, it is not anti-Semitic to call attention to this massive suffering, and to call for an end to it. That’s why many thousands of Jews in the United States and around the world, including in Israel itself, have also called for an end to the war. And as many Jewish opponents of the war have repeatedly pointed out, Israel’s actions are not making us safer. Just the opposite.
Here in Croton we are a small community, and when we disagree about important issues it can be uncomfortable for all concerned. But this is a necessary discussion, and we welcome it. And if the day comes that Jewish and non-Jewish students march through the streets of Croton bearing posters saying “Not in Our Name,” we hope that this community will welcome those brave enough to take a moral stand in the face of mass murder and injustice—no matter who commits it.
Comments policy: No personal attacks or hate speech, please be polite and respectful.
The responsibility for mass murder rests solely with Hamas who uses Palestinian women and children as human shields. As Golda Meir once said, "Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us." There can be no ceasefire until Hamas is destroyed and the hostages are retrieved.
Retaliation is natural after the October attack, but as the months have come and gone it is obvious it’s about a lot more than that and Israel has been out of line with some of their acts and what seems to be their objective and the World and many countries have been rightfully calling them out on it. You wouldn’t know just from the US main stream media though, which has been extremely biased on this topic, as it is bias on many issues and areas.