Exposing the Fig Leaf Covering Anti-Semitism - 2: Dr. Aton Holzer's Rebuttal

«[Dear] Mr. Horton:

"An open letter for the people of Gaza" on July 22, 2014 is totally inappropriate for publication in a medical journal. The article is replete with omissions and distortions, as I am certain you are well aware. The notion that a liberal western democracy would be interested in "massacring" Gazans -- and that its people and military would willingly engage in such an aim -- would be laughable if not chilling, given that the democracy being accused of bloodlust is the world's only Jewish state. In any event, simple perusal of Israeli press -- and the mindset of its editorials, even the furthest to the "right" -- would instantly reveal the fallacy of such a claim. Likewise, the ratio of reported deaths to ordnance dropped belies this claim. Further, the wholesale acceptance of numbers published by Hamas-controlled agencies in the fog of war is not a methodology that would pass muster for epidemiologists or biostatisticians.
The fact of IDF dropping of leaflets, cellphone calls, "roof knocking" all instantly reveal the "massacre" blood libel for what it is: a disgrace upon the reputation of The Lancet. Moreover, if the authors of the article have been working in Shifa and Wafa hospitals for any length of time, they are criminally negligent for looking away from the war crime Hamas perpetrated over the years by using these hospitals to store rockets and ammunition. As you surely know, medical facilities used to store munitions or launch military operations lose any legal protection under international humanitarian law.
Although I still do not believe that the Lancet would have been the place for it, a productive article that actually aimed to help the citizens of Gaza would have called out Hamas, which has brought about a humanitarian crisis by kidnapping and murdering Israeli civilians, bringing upon Gaza the blockade; that took the hundreds of millions of dollars in money and goods and used them to buy costly missiles and commission tunnels for terrorizing Israel's population -- hundreds of tons of concrete that could have built two hospitals and more; and that stored and launched these missiles from hospitals, clinics, schools and civilian homes, and prevented civilians from leaving them when called by Israel to evacuate. A productive article would call upon Qatar and Turkey to cease funding this entity known as Hamas, and for the international community to drive it from power and arrest its leaders.
It goes without saying that I and the community of physicians of which I am a part expect that you will print a well-reasoned rebuttal from Israeli physicians. Particularly in light of today's news item about the deaths of three Israeli soldiers in a booby-trapped UNRWA medical clinic (!) hiding a tunnel shaft, I think that basic decency would dictate that you print a retraction, as well.

Sincerely yours,

Aton M. Holzer, MD, FAAD, AMACMS
Miami, FL, USA»

Rabbi Dr. Aton Holzer is a member of the RCA






Kol Tuv,
RRW