To the Editor:

Re: “A Passover Message Re: Resistance,” Opinion, April 14.

In her Tuesday column, the author attempted to deliver a Passover message in response to Palestinian resistance in Gaza. However, with the exception of the snide comments in her conclusion, the column passes over the entire story and meaning of Passover.

For those who do not know the story of Passover, here is the Readers’ Digest version: The Jews were slaves in Egypt and G-d told Moses to ask Pharaoh to free the Jews. Moses went and warned Pharaoh what would happen should he not choose the path of peace. With each plague G-d sent, Moses went back to Pharaoh, but repeatedly Pharaoh refused peace.

Similarly, Israel has repeatedly asked for peace from its neighbors, particularly those living in the Gaza strip. When peace is refused and Israel continues to be attacked, Israel and the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) send text messages, make phone calls and drop leaflets warning Gaza residents before they take any action. On the other side of the border, Palestinians continue to send hoards of bombs into areas populated by Israeli civilians. These create modern day plagues, which Israelis must bear every day. There is no warning about these attacks; there are certainly no plea for peace or requests for negotiations beforehand.

Perhaps it is not the Israelis who need a history lesson after all.

Samantha Berg ’09