Outrage and shame.

• Author: Shapiro, Milton
• Position: Letters to the Editor - Letter to the editor

I have been a subscriber for many years and appreciate many of your articles and editorials. I find Matthew Rothschild's September Editor's Note, "Outrage and Shame," to be justified in general. However, I was disappointed he neglected to discuss the alternative for Israel after its soldiers were seized by Hezbollah on Israeli land. Should they have not reacted to this unlawful act? Should they have complained to the United Nations?

I would suggest that your comments did not consider the gravity of the act and the alternatives for Israel to react. The fact that Hezbollah used civilian housing to store its weapons complicated the situation and resulted in a large number of civilian deaths.

Tell us what you think Israel should have done after the kidnapping of its soldiers.

Milton Shapiro

via e-mail

Matthew Rothschild claims to feel shame as a Jew that "a nation of Jews would commit war crimes," referring to the recent invasion of Lebanon by Israel. In his entire essay, he devotes a whopping one sentence to Hezbollah's firing rockets into Israel and its seizing of Israeli soldiers, neglecting to mention that the soldiers were kidnapped from Israeli soil and that other soldiers died in the incident. He also neglects the long history of Hezbollah terrorizing Israelis for years by use of such rockets from Lebanon.

Israelis have lived in a perpetual state of war since independence in 1948. What would Rothschild have them do in response to Hezbollah? As a Jew, Rothschild should also know that it is against our precepts to stand idly by and be killed; one is obligated to defend oneself. If a nongovernmental group of terrorists fired rockets from Tijuana into San Diego, would he object to the American government doing all in its power to stop such crimes?

Every nation has a right to defend its sovereignty and safety. If Rothschild feels shame, then as a Jew he should engage in tikkun olam, the repairing of our shattered world, by suggesting positive steps to peace, rather than taking the easier editorial road of tearing down Israel for trying to maintain its existence.

Gregory J. Davis

Lexington, Kentucky

In response to the editorial published in the September issue of The Progressive, "The Israeli-American Invasion of Lebanon," I attempt to speak for the millions of low-profile, left-leaning Jews who feel betrayed by the left. For far too long, I have been guilty of keeping silent in the presence of my ACLU-loving, prochoice, progressive friends...