Regarding Aisha Sultan's column about Lila Steinbach, a Jewish student at WashU who started a pro-Palestinian group on campus ("Why a Jewish student at WashU started a pro-Palestinian group on campus," Oct. 11): Lila describes having doubts about what she had been taught about Palestinians. 鈥淲e learned they were one entity 鈥 a homogeneous group who wanted to hurt Jewish people," she said. Further, Lila said that she used the word 鈥渙ccupation鈥 for the first time in a conversation with her father.
Lila's recent and early Jewish and Israel education clearly has several gaping holes. International polls show that two-thirds of Palestinian respondents said they continue to support the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in which terrorists and Palestinian citizens of Gaza killed 1,200 people and took at least 240 hostages.
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And to consider Israel in "occupation" of Palestinian land belies an ignorance of recent history. For example, in 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip, dismantled its settlements and returned it to the Palestinians.
Lila also seems to lack awareness of both the continual Jewish presence in Israel for over 3,000 years and the multiple Biblical sources identifying the entire land of Israel as a homeland and perpetual inheritance to the Jewish people.
Jews with deep roots 鈥 connected to their people through the Jewish Bible and an awareness of modern Middle East history聽鈥 will never waver in their love, loyalty and commitment to Israel, nor be deceived on how to relate to the current state of Israel based on current societal norms.
Rabbi Ze'ev Smason
Olivette