Shame On You If You’re Ripping Down Hostage Posters

In the 2 1/2 weeks since the barbaric attack by Hamas on Israel, we’ve seen posters of kidnapped Israeli hostages pop up all over the world, including here in NYC. We’ve also seen countless videos of smug, self-righteous assholes indiscriminately ripping down those posters.

They include young and old, Jews and non-Jews alike. These are the very same people who condemn war, and condemn Israel for its retaliatory air strikes on Gaza which have displaced, injured and killed innocent civilians…men, women and children.

In their condemnation, they assert that the people of Gaza, Palestinians, should not be equated with Hamas; that they are not the same. And therefore they should not be victimized and made to suffer because of Hamas’ actions. They claim to be demonstrating compassion, empathy, and sympathy for innocent people caught up in a brutal war.

Yet they wander the global streets searching for posters of Israeli men, women and children who are also innocent victims. Human beings who fell prey during an unprovoked massacre. Like Palestinians in Gaza, they didn’t ask for their homeland to be attacked. They didn’t ask for their kibbutzim to be overrun by murderous terrorists. They didn’t asked to be kidnapped. Like Palestinians in Gaza, they are caught up in this centuries-old conflict. They are not the same…