LETTERS

Re “Mayor defends support for Israel,” Jan. 9

It is too often assumed that support for Israel in the conflict with Hamas means being against the Palestinian people. This is simply not true. Nothing would benefit the Palestinian people more than the destruction of Hamas. Hamas is a cancer on Palestinian society, has inflicted extraordinary pain and suffering on the Palestinian people and is the primary obstacle to permanent peace. There are no demonstrations against Hamas in Gaza, nor will any resident speak out publicly against them. Palestinians, including Muslim clergy, who have objected have been shot dead.

Jewish Americans and Arab Americans should demonstrate together in opposition to the fanaticism of Hamas. This is the path to the sustainable peace that everyone in the region deserves.

George Douglas

Pacific Palisades

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As a Jewish resident of Los Angeles with friends from a diverse range of communities, my question to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa about his public support of Israel is this: Did he confer with the Muslim community here before his news conference?

Almost everyone I know -- whether Jewish, Muslim, Christian or secular -- agrees that a fundamental ethical and religious value is that everyone involved in a conflict should have a seat at the table. As The Times notes, the news conference left “many of the city’s Palestinian community feeling marginalized.”

Many of us repeatedly called the mayor’s office to inquire if he had contacted the Muslim community; we were forwarded to an answering machine.

If the evidence indicates that the mayor did not include many key parties in the Los Angeles community, we citizen-residents can do our part by rejecting his initial shortsighted and counter-productive action.

Gene Rothman

Culver City

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Our mayor joins the ranks of politicians from president to alderman beholden to, or terrified by, a politically omnipotent pro-Israeli lobby. Meanwhile, the genocide continues.

On the other side, the Palestinians have only themselves to blame. They were naive enough to believe the U.S./Israeli assurances of a free election -- and foolish enough to elect politicians in disfavor with the superpowers.

It’s time for American Jews to stand up. Demanding fairness for all peoples of the Mideast is not anti-Semitism.

Kenneth Wilson

Venice