Regarding the Dec. 30 letter from Debra Lowtwait about Palestinian deaths and Hanukkah (“War mention had no place in Hanukkah story“), some facts about the Middle East are essential.

Israel was formed in 1948, a necessary refuge after the Holocaust. A planned Palestinian state was never created. Since 1967, the U.N. Security Council has passed more than 131 resolutions condemning Israel’s actions in the area: occupying Palestinian lands, disrespecting rights of Palestinians and Arabs, taking over multi-religious Jerusalem, killing Palestinian and Arab leaders. Living in Lebanon from 1967-68, I saw Palestinians and Arabs surviving in squalid refugee camps still used today.

Israel is now fighting in six places: Gaza and the occupied territories of Palestine, plus Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran. In the Israeli-Hamas war, according to Wikipedia, over 44,000 Palestinians and Arabs and 1,700 Israelis have been killed. Many in Gaza were told to leave one safe zone for other safe zones, and yet those new “safe zones” were later targeted. Overall, 70% of dead Palestinians are women and children, along with 156 journalists and media and 224 humanitarian workers, all part of Israel’s 17,000 attacks in the Middle East since Oct. 7, 2023.

“The Menorah is a symbol of hope and unity,” Rabbi Moshe Wilansky commented during Portland’s Hanukkah celebration on Dec. 26. I see no hope, no unity growing in the Middle East.

Does Netanyahu believe that, by killing Palestinians and Arabs, Israel will become safe? He’s breeding hatred. How can there be peace in the Middle East?

Betsey Harding
Cumberland