Dear Rod Murray (Letters, 27 May) In reply to your very long letter, far exceeding 250 words, (in itself telling), it was never my intention to respond to your spurious assertions about the Israeli government’s response to the Hamas genocidal attack on the Jewish nation on 7 October, 2023.
Nor did I intend to legitimise your factless, baseless and racist claims by engaging with them.
You appear to have entirely missed my point: to reiterate, your comparison between ISIS and Australian Israelis is utterly repugnant. Your suggestion is offensive and disgraceful.
You say you made no such claim. To quote your opening remarks directly: ‘With all the concern about re-radicalising the children returning to Australia whose parents had connections with ISIS, an estimated 1,000 Australian dual citizens serve or are active reservists in the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), with some serving in Gaza…’
You clearly compare Australian Israelis to ISIS returnees, and then go on to suggest that these Australian dual citizens should be investigated. What a shocking comparison, and never mind that military service is compulsory for all Israelis of military age.
You are equating Israeli Australians, people who enthusiastically, and gratefully contribute to our nation, and in particular our Byron Shire, with ISIS rapists and murderers. Not with people who ‘had connections with ISIS’, but people who willingly undertook to serve with ISIS and enslaved other women for daily use by ISIS rapists.
That was my point. Shame on you.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
