To the Editor:
Re “The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians,” by Nicholas Kristof (column, May 17):
Mr. Kristof’s reporting raises painful but necessary moral questions. The horrifying allegations from Palestinians — men, women and even children — must be investigated seriously and independently.
The allegations of beatings, humiliation and sexual torture in prisons are deeply disturbing. Mr. Kristof writes that “this is sexual violence in which the United States is complicit.”
One can support Israel, admire the resilience of the Jewish people and still insist that no nation is above moral scrutiny. I walked through Auschwitz-Birkenau years ago and stood before the remnants of humanity’s darkest abyss. The Jewish people suffered beyond words, and that history must never be forgotten. Yet precisely because of that history, the world hopes Israel will embody the highest standards of justice and human dignity.
Fear and trauma shape nations. Israelis live with memories of persecution, and the horrors of Oct. 7 deepened those fears. But terror and insecurity can never excuse cruelty. If even a fraction of these allegations are true, silence becomes complicity.
Palestinians and Israelis alike deserve safety, dignity and equal human rights. Moral consistency is not betrayal. It is civilization itself.
Dimitris Eleas Brooklyn
To the Editor:
Nicholas Kristof is right that sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees must be investigated and condemned. But his column does something more troubling than expose abuse: It uses abuse allegations to construct a moral equivalence with Oct. 7.
That equivalence is not earned.
Oct. 7 was a coordinated terrorist massacre, with a distinct evidentiary record: survivor and witness testimony, video, forensic reporting, hostage accounts and international investigations. The Palestinian detainee abuse record is serious and demands accountability, but it rests on a different evidentiary basis, including testimony, human rights organization reports and partly corroborated accounts.
Mr. Kristof’s strongest source, Sari Bashi, says she does not see evidence that rape was ordered, but does see evidence that the authorities know that abuse is happening and fail to stop it. That is a grave indictment of institutional impunity. It is not proof of a state-directed policy of rape.
Nor is “silence” accurate. These abuses have been reported by major news organizations and Israeli human rights groups.
The scandal is real. But so is the column’s rhetorical overreach.
Nim Shapira Brooklyn
To the Editor:
Nicholas Kristof is right that rape and sexual abuse must be condemned and investigated wherever they occur, whoever the victim or perpetrator may be.
But his column asks readers to move from horrifying allegations to sweeping conclusions about Israeli institutions and American complicity. Those are grave claims. They require independent investigation, access to evidence and a standard of proof equal to the seriousness of the accusation.
The column acknowledges there is no evidence that Israeli leaders ordered rape, yet it implies organized state policy. That distinction matters.
If Israeli soldiers, guards, settlers or interrogators committed sexual crimes, they should be prosecuted and punished. The answer is not silence. But neither should journalism blur the line between credible accountability and accusation by implication.
Sexual violence should never be excused. Precision should not be abandoned.
Seth Eisenberg Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Imposing Religion
To the Editor:
Re “Trump Administration Pushes Narrative of Christian Founding at Rally” (news article, nytimes.com, May 17):
I have cared about the separation of church and state since I was 11 years old in 1957 and had to read aloud from the Bible every morning in my Florida public school classroom and pray to Jesus Christ at every assembly through public high school.
Ironically, our leaders today are the least moral and ethical people among us. And their imposition of their religion goes beyond prayer. Every social issue I care about is being molded to their beliefs, whether contraception, L.G.B.T.Q. rights, immigration, science, history, voting … God help us.
Nancy Flaxman Novato, Calif.
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