The answer to columnist Victoria Hugo-Vidal’s question, “How do you stop a massacre?” is: don’t commit one.
In her March 17 column, Ms. Hugo-Vidal compares the loss of life in Gaza to the killing of villagers by U.S. forces in My Lai, Vietnam in 1968. She could have used countless examples of civilian deaths, in countless wars, but the only relevant example is the brutal murder of civilians in Israel when Hamas crossed the border from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. About this she had nothing to say.
Some questions for all those who lament the civilian casualties in Gaza and think that the solution is a permanent cease-fire:
• What should Israel have done in response to the Oct. 7 massacre?
• How should Israel fight an enemy that embeds in a civilian population, knowing that Israel will be condemned if it attacks urban centers?
• In what way would a cease-fire prevent Hamas, which is a virulent, antisemitic organization dedicated to the elimination of Israel as a state by any means, from re-grouping, re-arming, and repeating Oct.7?
What is occurring in Gaza is a tragedy, but Ms. Hugo-Vidal is historically and morally confused about its cause and cure and accuses the wrong party of genocide.
Martin Jones
Freeport
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