Dear Editor,

I appreciate Lynn Hirshman's reasoned editorial challenging some of the assertions in my essay on Zionism. I agree with her on many points. It is true that Jews have been attempting to return to Palestine for generations. One has only to read the Old Testament Book of Exodus to know this.

We do disagree however, on the beginning of the Zionist movement which began buying land in Palestine in the late 1800's, enabled by the British Balfour Declaration of 1917. This "Declaration" permitted the creation of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine but also stated "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing, non-Jewish communities in Palestine."

One only has to see the expansion of Jewish settlements and outpost in the West Bank and the compression of the Gaza Strip to see that is not reality.

I agree with Hirshman’s assertion that Hamas' invasion into Israeli settlements resulting in the death of 1,200 Israelis and hundreds of hostages was horrific. Hamas is a terrorist organization bent on Israel’s destruction, as is Iran. But I also agree with JD Vance who recently asserted that Israel cannot bomb its way to security.  This is akin to what the US did in Vietnam, creating strategic hamlets, transporting the population into them, then bombing the newly created free fire zones; thus losing their “hearts and minds” and creating more terrorists.

Israel has a right to “remain safe and secure within her own borders.” I question the method for gaining this security. If they kill 50 innocent civilians to kill one Hamas agent, is that acceptable collateral damage? Does this then create more hatred… and terrorists?

The Israeli people are stuck. They are controlled by a right-wing government bent on eliminating the “two state solution.” Yet they deserve security from the terrorist attacks by Hamas militants, or Hezbollah rockets. They are also stuck because Netanyahu is facing criminal charges for corruption and delaying these proceedings means keeping this coalition in place. Hirschman states that she, as a diaspora Jew, despises the Netanyahu government and is ashamed of the Trump government here. Another area of agreement.

I do disagree with Ms Hirshman’s claim that the figures for numbers of dead in Gaza come from “highly challenged Hamas-government figures.” According to a Google search, “As of mid-2026, the Gaza Ministry of Health (not Hamas) reports that over 75,000 Palestinians have been killed since the conflict began in October 2023. Additionally, more than 171,000 people have been injured. The official figures are considered a substantial undercount by many international experts. Several academic studies and public health groups estimate the true death toll is much higher—potentially exceeding 90,000 to 100,000 when factoring in indirect deaths from starvation, lack of medical care, and thousands of bodies trapped under rubble.” This death toll is generally considered accurate by the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and various international researchers.

According to Drop Site News, 556 aid workers and 1,700 medical workers have been killed, 38 hospitals damaged or put out of service, and 197 ambulances targeted. This is morally wrong. The Israeli military has dismissed these figures as propaganda, but according to Democracy Now, Israel has killed 260 Palestinian journalists and denied permission for international journalists to enter Gaza. No wonder it is hard to distinguish propaganda from truth.

Ms. Hirshman asserts that settler harassment of Palestinians in the West Bank is analogous to the KKK terrors and lynchings in the US. She agrees that seizing and bull dozing of homes in the West Bank has been “supported by some in the current Israeli government” …The Jim Crow era in the US with lynchings and segregation was certainly ignored by the US government for decades. An excerpt from the Middle East Institute illustrates the Israeli version, “Palestinians and observers have noted incidents where Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers enabled settler violence. According to a January 2024 UN report, in almost half of the recorded incidents after October 7, 2023, Israeli military or security forces either accompanied or supported the attackers…The reported incidents include, but are not limited to, physical violence, torching fields and livestock, theft and vandalization of property, destruction of water pipes, and intimidation.”  That was nearly three years ago and has escalated since. This March, Israel approved 34 new settlements in the West Bank, a historic increase.

Hirshman claims Israel is not expansionist. In Lebanon, Israeli attacks to fight Hezbollah have killed at least 4,192 people there since this invasion, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. More than 11,600 have been injured, and more than 1.2 million people have been displaced. More bulldozing of homes.  Israel now occupies about 1/5th of Lebanon.  Time will tell if they ever evacuate this area, as well as the 70% of Gaza and vast areas of the West Bank they occupy, or whether they keep these as “fait accompli” and ignore the world’s reactions. 

I don’t have an answer for how to address the current situation in Gaza and Palestine.  Smarter people than I have tried to solve this and failed. But this does not supplant the rights of the Palestinians who have also lived on this land for many generations. The Palestinians have their story, too. 

Bill Thibedeau

Gilpin County