Taking up the gauntlet

Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." It was one of John F. Kennedy's most famous speeches – and it applies to us now with respect to eretz Israel.

With Sderot under constant attack from Kassam rockets, Israel's leadership has retaliated with air strikes on Hamas strongholds in Gaza. And the world has responded with the usual bile, on blogs and in newspaper chat rooms.

Some of the most virulent postings have come from Canadians. On a Globe and Mail message board this week, one of our fellow citizens referred to Israel's self-defence as "savagery," and suggested it was no different to "an armed drug-running gang shooting people on the streets...."

Another posited that if Israel would only return to pre-1967 borders, everything would be OK – and then wondered aloud why the United Nations hadn't imposed sanctions against Israel for "their illegal holding of lands."

These absurd and wholly ill-informed comments were made by ordinary Canadians – and they need to be counteracted by all of us. It's time to join the debate. Write to the editors of our daily newspapers, call in to broadcast news shows and post your own thoughts on mainstream media websites. It is up to us, as Diaspora Jews, to protect Israel from the ignorance of our fellow nationals.