Dear ______,

I’d rather we would not talk about Israel because we seem to totally disagree on this subject, and I don’t want it to have a bad impact on our long-time friendship. But I want to share my thoughts with you about you saying that in reality the Israelis are ashamed about the war in Gaza.

I am sure that the vast majority of my friends in Israel are certainly not ashamed of that war.

Many have children in the army in Gaza or in the West Bank. Many are worried, desperate, and certainly feel no less compassion for the Palestinian civilian victims than you. Most find war terribly and do not want that innocent people die.

But they also do not want thousands of Israelis to die or to continue to live under rocket-fire, under constant threat, with radical Islamists around them that make no secret of what they will do with Jews as soon as they will have the occasion.

Hamas never says “Israelis”.  For them there is no difference.

But I can comment only for myself: I am against violence and war and just as horrified and shocked as you are about injured and killed children all over the world .

My compassion is not limited to Indian or South American children, nor is it limited to Palestinian kids either.

My sympathies are also go to Syrian Pakistani, Sudanese, Nigerian, Iraqi, Somali, Lybian children who are killed by hundreds of thousands by the same ideology, by radical Islam, which has cost the lives of more tha 11 000 000 Muslims since 1948 11 000 !!! [STET]

I have contacts with Palestinians, even with a filmmaker from Gaza, now … but .. I see the danger posed by radical Islamists such as Hamas, and that the blockade of Gaza came AFTER the rocket attacks, and is not it’s cause.

And I know that the wall  that has been erected after horrible terror attacks brutally murdered more than thousand Israeli civilians in buses, schools and pubs have lost their lives, and that the settlements are NOT the main cause of failed peace talks, which is the general consensus and mantra of the “European Hasbara” of the Left, Greens, Islamists and neo-Nazis.

I am shocked by your lack of compassion for Israelis being bombarded for years, the many gruesome terrorist attacks, many of which I indirectly (and one even had directly experienced!) !!

And your one-sided criticism of Israel and your lack of understanding what is happening there.  Your black and white view of Israel scares me.

I also have my criticism of many what happened in Israel, the swing to the right, but that is also happening in Europe.

My friends there, and I are almost all for a two-state solution.

But radical Islamism all around Israel makes this solution increasingly impossible and dangerous for Israel.

It is not only the settlement policy, which can be criticized of course.

But writing hateful and ironic, cynical comments, and sometimes even posting false photos or articles is certainly no way to peace either.

The only way to peace is the path of the heart, through encountering each other, and a mutual attempt to understand each other’s pain and fears.

I have a few such friends in Israel who are seeking this path. But it is not possible when organizations like Hamas have power because they are making any contact impossible.

And to liken Bibi and Bennet, no matter how much one may accuse them of racism or war-mongering, to the leaders of Hamas, who kill and torture their own people, is absurd.

I am often enough in Israel to capture the atmosphere there. Yes, there is a growing racism , and hatred, and religious fanaticism, like all over the world, and it has to be taken care of.

But the way you criticize Israel in your many posts, and never utter even a single word of criticism of Hamas or Fatah, you kindle only hatred of Israel.

I’m against war and violence, but I see a great danger in radical Islam, that is the new fascism, and history repeats itself again, unfortunately. And with radical Islamists, it is not possible to conclude peace negotiations.  

Have you read the Hamas Constitution which openly calls for the murder of Jews?

Hamas wanted to start a mega terrorist attack and would kill every Israeli if they had the chance.

And now they can send rockets from Gaza to Haifa. What should Israel do according to you, to protect their civilians?

Was it wrong that the Allies bombed Dresden and Berlin?

It is not easy to answer this moral question…

The violence and the suffering of many innocents is of course shocking to any feeling being, and the pictures of dead or injured children are heart-breaking of course.

But the vast majority of people in Israel is also realizing the danger of not reacting to the constant shelling of rockets and the threat of the tunnels, and of Hamas acquiring more weapons.

Would you like to see such gruesome pictures also from Israel? Bombs on planes? Some rockets hit Ben Gurion airport a few days ago.  How many deaths would there be now in Israel, after years of missiles fired into Israel by Hamas if there were no shelters and no iron dome? 

Israel is between a rock and a hard place.

And what I do know, not from the media but from the children of my friends who are now soldiers in Gaza, is that they very often tell people exactly where they should stay to be safe if the houses are being blown up, but that Hamas prevents them to escape, and fires rockets near schools, hospitals and mosques.

This whole situation is terrible, and moves me very much.

However, I am sure that one-sided criticism of Israel, particularly in Europe where anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism are so closely intertwined, does not contribute to peace, and hurts not only Israel, but also the non-Islamist Palestinians.

I would appreciate if this issue would be settled between us, I respect your opinion, but do not agree with it.

For me this is not a reason not to be friends, or to judge you.

Everyone has their past, and experiences, and if I lived in Germany I would perhaps also share your opinion; if you were in Israel and your sons in the army now , you would probably think differently as you do now, I don’t want to condemn anyone.

I look forward but to talk to you about other issues.

Very best wishes, and also do not condemn you me and some of your friends in Israel on our opinion.

Our children have often wept over friends killed in attacks, and we sat there with our gas masks during the Gulf War, or in the shelter when missiles were falling.

There is a wise Indian saying “condemn no one unless you’ve been walking around a few days in his moccasins”.

See you soon, be well, and I hope that soon peace will come ………

Shalom, 

# # #