Dear Mr. Eckford,

I am a Jewish activist and author living in New York who was made aware of your stance on the Canadian government’s approach towards Israel by one of my friends and followers on social media.  As per his request I am reaching out to you in response to some of the  comments you made on your radio show in Vancouver regarding the war and ongoing situation in Gaza.  Albert Einstein once said, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.  So is a lot.”  Well as evidenced in your statements. you have the first part covered.  You certainly know a little.  However, if you knew a lot you might see this very differently.  Then again, not knowing you and how you feel about Jews in general, I wonder if it would make much of a difference.

You’re not well-known at all in my neck of the woods and I am guessing not in many places outside Western Canada, but because of an uncommon twist to your statements I was intrigued enough to take a half an hour out of my time to write to you. The twist I’m referring to is that unlike so many others who speak out against Israel, you are actually aware and willing to admit the fact that Hamas wants to not only destroy Israel but murder every Jew worldwide.  You are also correct in the statement you make about the people of Gaza being trapped.  And as far as your comments stating that the only peaceful outcome to the situation is a 2 State solution, although it’s a debatable subject, one I no longer have much faith in, it is a reasonable opinion on your part.

And there you have it.  I’ve just reviewed the small amount of knowledge you have and once again seen why Albert Einstein truly was a genius.  For you went on to say that Israel’s actions were acts of barbarism.  Disproportionate, disgusting, inhumane. That the people of Gaza are trapped, implying it is of Israel’s doing.   In saying these things and leaving out some very important points either out of malice or ignorance, your knowledge becomes dangerous due to the fact that people listen to your show and believe they are learning truths from you.  That is why I needed to write this letter.

You see Mr. Eckford, your Canadian government, as it so often does in so many instances, is indeed getting it right.  Lead by one of the world’s great leaders Stephen Harper, the government of Canada realizes that by supporting Israel it is indeed supporting peace.  Words like barbarism and eradication are not words to be thrown around irresponsibly.  War is tragic no matter which way you look at it.  That does not mean however that it is never necessary.  You said the people of Gaza are trapped.  That they are, but not by Israel, by Hamas.  If you look at Israel’s track record with Egypt and Jordan, nations that once were at war with Israel as well, once they were willing to stop fighting Israel and peace was declared, there was a degree of normalization of relations between the countries.  If you think that Israelis don’t dream of a Gaza where they could vacation rather than bomb, you know nothing about the mentality of the Jewish state.  That dream is at least for now, destroyed by Hamas. They took the money provided to develop and build the territory and instead bought missiles and built terror tunnels. The poverty in Gaza is created by Hamas to perpetuate hate and frustration and the people are made to believe it is a result of Israeli occupation.  But Israel neither does, nor do they want to occupy Gaza.  Hamas teaches the children to be terrorists.  They will do anything to destroy Israel, even destroy their own people.  The difference is very clear.  Israel does things they wish they did not have to do in order to provide safety and security to their people, not as you so irresponsibly said, to eradicate a people.  Hamas does everything they do to eradicate Israel.

Benjamin Netanyahu once said, “if the Arabs put down their weapons there would be no more war.  If Israel put down their weapons there would be no more Israel.” Israel did not bomb Gaza because, as you made it sound, they wanted to.  They bombed Gaza because they were given no other choice.  When Hezbollah does it in the north will you criticize Israel for fighting back then too?  Assuming of course they are winning.  Maybe if they are losing or suffering major casualties it will be just fine.  It will be fair, proportionate, not as you called it “lopsided, disgusting, inhumane”.  Does that imply if more Israelis had been killed it would have been humane?  The only reason there was a disproportionate amount of deaths in the Gaza war Mr. Eckford was because Hamas was not successful in its attempts to kill tens of thousands of Jews.  You, like so many others with a bias against Israel seem to be mad at Israel for not allowing themselves to take a beating.  Well I am here to put you on notice Mr. Eckford. The Jewish people are not prepared to be victims any longer. Not victims of Hamas, Iran, and not of a DJ in Western Canada with a little bit of knowledge.  I have a suggestion and a challenge.  The suggestion is you raise the level of your knowledge before you speak about Israel again, and the challenge is, if you want, to invite me to debate you on your show.  Or do you prefer to have no one challenge you when you impart what is merely a little bit of knowledge?  I look forward to finding out.

Sincerely,

David Groen

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