Readers Write: Israel and Gaza

Opinion editor's note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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Unless both Israelis and Palestinians are treated equally, with equal rights and dignity, there can be no peace in the Middle East. The question to be asked is not how Israeli security failed to detect the Oct. 7 attacks but rather what policies of Israel toward the Palestinians created a climate in which such horrific acts could be contemplated. For 75 years, starting with the 1948 expulsion of the Palestinians off their lands, Israeli policies have persecuted the Palestinians and denied them their basic human rights, becoming more severe in recent years. While many courageous Jewish voices within Israel and around the world have spoken out against Israel's actions, the United States has looked the other away, more or less pretended the Palestinians did not exist, and funded and allowed Israeli policies to perpetuate. Around 1,200 Israelis were murdered and over 11,000 and counting Palestinians, including over 4,000 children, have been killed in revenge. What will that solve except to create more hatred?

More war is not the answer. Fortress Israel was never a solution, neither before Oct. 7 nor since. The only solution is to create one just, fair and equitable state with one person, one vote, that protects the rights of all and treats all peoples equally.

Stanley Woolner, St. Paul

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What political structure should Israel impose on Gaza? The hurdles are clear: a traumatized and antagonized population lacking a history of effective democracy.

To misquote Sting, the Palestinians love their children too. The inclination to war rarely if ever arises from the people. One of the virtues of liberal democracy is allowing this natural disinclination to violence and war to have its say and influence with the political leaders. But for this to occur, a culture that trusts the democratic process is needed. The micro-to-macro model I suggest may be the way to get it.

Craig Peterson, Minneapolis

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On Oct. 13 a group of faculty members from the University of Minnesota's department of gender, women and sexuality studies released a statement criticizing Israel. It described the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel as an "incursion" where "Hamas fighters brought down border fences" to which Israel responded by declaring "a total war on Gaza." They accused Israel of conducting "a genocidal war against Gaza, and against Palestinian freedom, self determination, and life."

The irony of this statement is that Hamas follows strict Islamic law. It is in fact an anti-gay, anti-female and anti-democratic organization funded by Iran (the ones whose morality police murdered a young Iranian woman by the name of Mahsa Amini for allegedly not wearing a hijab properly).

Over the past few years progressives in this country have called for gay rights, women's rights and the preservation of democracy. Hamas does not embrace those ideals. They are the antithesis of what progressives stand for.

So it's ironic that U department of gender, women and sexuality would condemn Israel — a democracy that protects both women's and gay rights — while disregarding the atrocities committed against these groups by Hamas. Atrocities that include the brutal rapes of Israeli women.

Israel isn't perfect. It must commit to a two-state solution and strive to eliminate civilian casualties in this conflict. But let us not forget the real enemy of both the Israeli and Palestinian people is Hamas.

Jim Piga, Mendota Heights

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Diane Pulling, Victoria

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I am a school psychologist working in Minneapolis Public Schools, where I have been a union member for many years. I heard about the Nov. 14 Israel-Palestine resolution distributed by the teachers union as I drove in to work. As soon as I sat at my desk I found it online, and I agreed with the first several sentences. The call for a humanitarian cease-fire is laudable ("Teachers union statement on Middle East sparks rift," Nov. 21).

Then I came to the part about "the system of Israeli occupation and apartheid, which lies at the root of the Palestinian Israeli conflict." What the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers is saying here is that Israeli actions are the root cause of the conflict. The statement ignores the fact that the root causes go back generations, and that it devolved into the current state as a result of deplorable actions taken by both sides. It implies that one side is composed of malevolent perpetrators, while on the other are innocent victims.

The blame in this statement adds fuel to the fire. It serves to justify retaliation, which perpetuates the cycle of violence. Gaza requires us to hold opposing thoughts in our heads at the same time. Instead of blaming, we should honor the pain of Palestinian fathers holding dead daughters, and Israeli mothers burying their murdered sons, of Palestinian need for a coherent country and of Jews needing a safe homeland. Maybe when each side can articulate the suffering of the other we will see progress. The Nov. 14 MFT statement makes this level of understanding more distant.

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Apparently the MFT has enough free time to make a statement about the ongoing Israeli war. In demonstrating its support for Palestinians, it ruffled the feathers of the district's Jewish parents and students. You would think in this uber-sensitive world of culture and religion, it would think twice about making an official comment. Evidently not.

How is the school district doing in the arena of academics? Some research (schooldigger.com) shows that overall Minneapolis is ranked 312 out of 567 statewide school districts. That puts the district in the bottom half. Maybe the MFT ought to focus on improving the outlook for its 30,000 students rather than international affairs? Possibly these efforts might result in graduates with the skills to solve many of our vexing challenges across a broad spectrum of topics.