I want to visit Israel to see if I have any “Higham” relatives, but my non-Jewish husband won’t allow such a trip due to the unrest. I know, were it not for that, we’d go in a minute as he has taken me on tours of holocaust camps in Europe. So sad, all the killing. I am on the side of Israel as the Hamas must stop sending rockets to Israel.
    I grew up believing that religion was something that gave me hope rather than destruction.
Sincerely,
Donnajean

While I believe Israel has the right to defend itself, and it is showing tremendous restraint in its response to the rocket attacks from Gaza, I would like to see some more reverence from the American Jewish community about the loss of Palestinian lives.  We should all take a cue from Israel, and show restraint for our words and not take away the humanity of Palestinian civilians, who are in the line of fire as Israel tries to eradicate Hamas.

DEAR Brian:
    I do agree with you, as I regret the loss of life in any group.

    And, Perhaps I am misinformed that the Palestinians want all Jews dead and Isreal wiped off the map???

Dear Donna Jean

Many Palestinians want to see Hamas gone and do not support the attacks on Israel.

As Jews, we have been dehumanized throughout history.  No matter what kind of hatred we receive from other groups, we should always remember the connection with have with Hashem and show restraint with our words in how we regard other people.

Israel is doing the right thing in Gaza; I would just like to see American Jews show more reverence for the very real losses Palestinians in Gaza are currently experiencing.  Jews have lost so much throughout history; this should lead to a greater sense of compassion, no matter how wrong, evil, or destructive a group of people may appear to us.

Dear Brian Or anyone:
    I attended my Jewish Book Club last night to discuss two readings. It’s the discussion that followed that I really learn from. One senior member who used to live and teach in Israel related that Jews and Arabs don’t speak to one another, ever. Speaking from her own experience, she also told us that one of her three jobs was to teach Arabs to read, write, speak English. Eventually, she was labeled an “Arab sympathizer” and fired.

    Anyway, it all boiled down to this: I stated: “I thought Jews were Arabs.”

    Most members disagreed with this.

    So then I asked, “It would be like me, a Caucasian, walking down the street and not looking sideways at an African American?”

    She said, “Right.”

    Sounds like Israel and the Arabs are way behind the times.
Donnajean

Brian, you claim that Israel showed restraint against Palestinians…technically yes they could have done much worse, but I think the bombing was excessive.  The world stood by as Israel decimated Gaza.  Hundreds, if not, thousands of civilians were killed or injured, relatively compared to less then one hundred Israeli’s harmed by the rocket attacks.  I agree Israel has the right to defend their citizens, but how long will this go on for? Maybe Israel should take a different approach in dealing with the Palestinian conflict.  Try and win over the hearts and minds of Palestinians.  This conflict will never end unless both parties meet in the middle on the issues at hand.  Violence only instigates more hatred.

—
Frank
DUI lawyer

While I believe Israel has the right to defend itself, and it is showing tremendous restraint in its response to the rocket attacks from Gaza, I would like to see some more reverence from the American Jewish community about the loss of Palestinian lives.  We should all take a cue from Israel, and show restraint for our words and not take away the humanity of Palestinian civilians, who are in the line of fire as Israel tries to eradicate Hamas.

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