Regarding Laura Saunders’ opinion piece (“Jewish values dictate I work to end Israeli occupation”), in which she describes how her Jewish values compel her to defend the Palestinian Arabs against the Israelis, if she’s so dedicated to Jewish values, why does her article make no mention of God, the Torah or the Covenant, which contains the promise of the land of Israel? Does her version of Judaism not contain these concepts? Saying the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria amounts to an “illegal occupation” is equivalent to renouncing Judaism itself.

Saunders talks about her Jewish upbringing, but both she and her teachers going back multiple generations have followed a corrupted form of Judaism that rejects its most central elements while attaching supreme importance to artificial social theories that have never been proven to work anywhere.

One of the peculiar features of this corrupted Judaism is its worship of victimhood. Everything is seen through the eyes of the victim. Claiming you’re oppressed grants you instant moral authority, while being accused of oppression makes you unworthy of positive consideration. If Israelis impose harsh measures on Arabs, the only possible explanation is the sadistic pleasure they get from it. Saunders doesn’t consider the possibility that the Arabs might have done something to deserve such treatment, and she seems totally oblivious to the fact that Arab leaders continually cultivate an attitude of murderous hatred against Jews, which is passed down from generation to generation, and that they would slaughter the Jews without mercy if Israel ever let down its guard.

People like Saunders imagine that they’re contributing to peace, but their Arab allies see them as “useful idiots,” working to weaken Israel’s ability to defend itself and preparing it for ultimate destruction.

Martin Wasserman,
Palo Alto