during the crusades of the 11th and 12th centuries, jews were routinely murdered if they refused to renounce their religion and agree to convert to christianity. anti-jewish riots known as pogroms swept the russian empire starting in odessa in 1821 and intensified after the assassination of tsar alexander ii in 1881.
the pogroms continued even after the second world war. in 1946 in kielce, poland , a mob attacked and killed 42 jews after false rumours were spread that jews had abducted and murdered a christian child for ritual purposes of blood libel. the ongoing antisemitism led most european jews to emigrate to israel and north america to find a safe haven. israel then and now represents our last best hope for the safety of jews. it is why the savagery of the recent hamas attack, the worst since the holocaust, created such gut-wrenching horror and anxiety for the future. there can be no justification for it as a legitimate response to palestinian suffering.
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in the war against japan, u.s. president harry truman authorized the use of two atomic warheads that killed as many as 210,000 innocent people in hiroshima and nagasaki to force japan’s surrender. it ended the war in the pacific with the least loss of life, but with tragic consequences. israel must try to eliminate hamas as best it can with a minimum of casualties because it does have a moral compass. hamas will rejoice at any opportunity to increase the number of those casualties by its callous disregard for palestinian lives.
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