To the Editor:

In a letter to the editor from the June 13 issue of The Altamont Enterprise [“How are we going to make all students feel welcomed?”], Guilderland High School sophomore Angelica Sofia Parker addressed an incident related to the May 23 anti-hate rally held at the high school.

Specifically, she said that, according to “social media posts and comments made by fellow students,” the phrase “from the river to the sea” was written in chalk as part of the activities. Let me make one point clear: I was not there, and I have no way of knowing if this, in fact, happened. Therein lies the problem.  Why has this purported incident not been addressed?

Let’s start by addressing the phrase itself. As Ms. Parker points out, the phrase “from the river to the sea” is the call for the genocide of the Jews and the elimination of the nation of Israel. The very phrase is in the Hamas charter and has been a common battle cry among anti-Israel protesters throughout the world, including here in the United States.

Though perhaps less threatening in tone (largely because the dimwits chanting it couldn’t begin to name the river or the sea that they’re screaming about), it is no less hateful than the oft heard “gas the Jews.” The person who wrote those words has proclaimed his or her support of Hamas, a group of genocidal maniacs who are truly enemies of civilization itself.

One would have thought that the Hamas terrorist attack on innocent Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, one of the most barbaric and savage acts in recent history, would have brought worldwide condemnation. Thousands of Hamas terrorists, joined by many ordinary Palestinians, murdered, tortured, raped, mutilated, and burned over 1,000 Israeli citizens, many of them young people attending a music festival. 

Over 200 civilians were taken hostage. They did this ecstatically. They filmed themselves. They called home, one now infamous cell phone recording of a young man euphorically telling his parents, “I killed ten Jews with my own hands! Go to WhatsApp and look!”

The level of depravity on that day is difficult for a civilized mind to comprehend. If you can bear it, try to watch Sheryl Sandberg’s documentary, “Screams Before Silence.” It is a gut-wrenching account of the sexual assaults perpetrated by Hamas on Oct. 7.  

This is hate in its most vile form. Hamas hates. They hate Jews. They hate women. They hate gays. They hate all non-Muslims.

And yet, at an anti-hate rally, someone writes words in support of Hamas. As I’ve watched with disgust as thousands of protesters in this country have stood in support of this death cult, I have hoped that others have been equally repelled.

Perhaps many remain silent for fear of being labeled Islamophobic, a term that Andrew Cummins once said “is a word created by fascists, and used by cowards, to manipulate morons.” But the silence is deafening.

So did I miss something? Did it turn out this incident was merely an online hoax? Did it actually occur? Was anyone held accountable? I am a bit perplexed as to why this newspaper has not addressed this issue. At all. Ms. Parker and the rest of the community deserve some answers.

Mike Moak

Guilderland Center

Editor’s note: See related editorial.