Letter: Jewish Votes, or Arab Votes?

Dear editor:

It seems to me that Bruce Ticker’s column is mistitled. (“Column: Jewish Voters Vent Six Years of Rage” boulderjewishnews.org November 14, 2024) While Donald Trump did secure a larger percentage of Jewish votes than past Republican candidates have received, his victory also resulted from receiving a larger than expected percentage of the Arab vote. While American Arabs may not feel safe admitting it in public, many of them know the truth – all of the suffering currently being endured by the Palestinians in Gaza results from the actions of Hamas and similar terrorist groups.

While telling the world that an Israeli blockade (actually an embargo aimed at preventing weapons of war from entering Gaza) prevented Hamas from developing the Gazan economy, Hamas managed to spend $1,000,000,000 building its extensive network of terror tunnels. The fortifications are so deeply embedded amid the Gazan populace that it is literally impossible for Israel to respond to Hamas’ attacks on Israeli population centers without harming some Gazan civilians. The distinction – Hamas deliberately targets civilians, while Israel goes to extraordinary efforts (praised by military experts, Maj. John Spencer and Col. Richard Kemp) to avoid collateral damage. However, Israel’s efforts are guaranteed to be less than 100% effective when schools, mosques, businesses, hospitals, and homes are all being used as weapons storage rooms, missile launching sites, and command centers. Many American Arabs are well aware that Hamas prizes the deaths of Arabs accidentally killed in Israeli responses (makes for good anti-Israel propaganda), but those American Arabs know that no Gazans would have been killed if Hamas had not so brutally broken the ceasefire in effect on October 6, 2023).

The extraordinary level of atrocities inflicted on Israelis on October 7, 2023, coupled with Palestinians’ cheering Hamas’ promise to continue inflicting such atrocities on Israelis, again and again, also convinced Israel that it could no longer be content to “mow the grass” (settle for temporary respites from periodic attacks by terrorists). The only acceptable goal is a decisive victory over Hamas, to be followed by the demilitarization of Gaza and the deradicalization of the Palestinians living under Hamas (and Palestinian Authority) misrule.

Toby F. Block
Atlanta, GA 30341