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Letter to the Editor 9-15

In response to an article titled “Religion gets left behind in our accepting society” in last Wednesday’s Oracle.

 

Dear Editor, 

I read your article, “Religion gets left behind in our accepting society,” recently and I must say I’m disappointed. 

The disappointment stems from the lack of information about Mayim Bialik and her cooperation with the siege against Gaza. Bialik is a key supporter of Israel who led the onslaught “Protective Edge” in Gaza, which took the lives of 1,473 civilians — over 500 of them were children. 

Shelling indiscriminately in a heavily dense population led to 13 hospitals, 22 schools and 200 mosques being heavily damaged. The city’s infrastructure was completely obliterated. 

Her donation and the assault on Palestinians in Gaza occurred during the holy month of Ramadan to add insult to injury. In July 2014, she openly donated bulletproof vests to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to provide aid during the blatant disregard for human rights. 

The criticism she receives comes from the support she gives to an apartheid state occupying land for more than six decades. Israel denies the right to return to thousands of Palestinians as well as creating illegal settlements in Palestinian territory. 

Just recently the IDF attacked Al Aqsa mosque causing severe damage and injured a number of civilians. This is not an attack on her religious beliefs but an opportunity to highlight how any type of disagreement with Israel’s policy is considered anti-Semitic and is dismissed as hate. 

Israel does not represent the entire Jewish population; so criticizing a woman who funded a government who partakes in these terrorist acts is not anti-Semitic. I am not making the argument that there is no anti-Semitism in the world, but I question Bialik’s claim. 

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) finds it difficult to separate the two, which is why I feel obligated to write this letter. For a civil rights group who claims to combat hate, the ADL states anti-Semitism is a pillar of Islamic ideology, a statement fueling and promoting islamaphobia.

 

Nabil Saleh is a senior majoring in history.