Following are NCR reader responses to the column 'In year since Hamas' pogrom against Jews, we've seen antisemitism on the rise' with letters that have been edited for length and clarity (ncronline.org, Oct. 7, 2024).
MSW's 'Pogrom' usage 'incomplete,' 'misleading', 'appalling' and 'malicious'
I respect Michael Sean Winter's work very, very much. That said, I believe his article about the rise of antisemitism is incomplete, misleading and not at all his best effort.
Yes, the events of Oct. 7 were outrageous, tragic, infuriating and whatever other descriptors one wishes.
But the response has been far from proportional — about 30 Palestinian lives for each Israeli life lost. And now Israel is repeating the proportions in Lebanon.
Israel has suppressed the Palestinian people for decades and created a tinder box which finally erupted, this time more violently than in the past. Whenever the violence finally pauses, the resentment towards Israel among the Arab community in the Middle East will be only far greater than before.
This article oversimplifies the situation that exists in Israel suggesting a single right answer. The merciless killing of civilians by the Israeli government can be vigorously opposed without the opposition being anti-Semitic. I am one who so opposes that Government.
TIM ROUSE
Omaha, Nebraska
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Michael Sean Winters,
I have been following your writing in NCR for a decade and have greatly appreciated the range and nature of much of it. I am, however, appalled by your article with the headline stating that Hamas launched a pogrom against the Jews. I have visited Israel-Palestine with the Catholic Women’s League and have seen the barriers and the fears that Israeli Arabs face. I have been following the ensuing war in detail through the excellent journalism of Haaretz (a respected Israeli Jewish newspaper) and find your article one-sided and ignorant.
I do not support what Hamas did one year ago: it was evil. Killing kibbutz residents, many of whom tried to build bridges across the barriers, and attacking unarmed civilians was despicable. Israel's government is led by Netanyahu (who might well be in jail if the war had not stopped multiple trials against him), and violent West Bank settlers who want to retake Gaza in order to settle it and permanently dispossess its residents. The manner in which Israel is carrying out its war of revenge (the Gazans are 'animals') reminds one of the Indian wars and massacres European settlers carried out in all parts of North America.
Haaretz newspaper makes clear that the current government is using accusations of anti-Semitism, particularly through its supporters abroad, as a cover for its long-term goal of a Jewish-only state. West Bank Arab communities are being terrorized by settlers and the Arab communities in Bethlehem and Jerusalem are subject to random attacks. I encourage you, and the NCR staff generally, to read the assessment of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict given by a Jewish-born Jesuit priest, Father David Neuhaus, in America.
MARIANNE MCLEAN
Ontario, Canada
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Michael Sean Winters,
I strongly object to your article describing the Hamas attack as a "pogrom". This is a deliberately misleading piece of propaganda.
A google search says "A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russian Empire".
It refers to "ethnic cleansing" which occurred in Christian Europe. Is Hamas capable of driving Jews out of Israel? Do they have American warplanes, tanks and bombs or tens of billions of dollars in American aid and American political protection in the UN? Do they have American bulldozers to destroy Israeli homes and build settlements there?
Your article is a disservice to your readers. It is dirty malicious propaganda.
ANSELM IRENIUS SEQUEIRA
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
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