To the Editor:

What a spectacular display of anti-Israel rhetoric, filled with hateful bias that does nothing to educate the community about the complexity of the Middle East conflict. How consistent for an anti-Israel advocate to rely on inaccurate facts and skewed history to subtly present Israelis as Nazis, and the headline chosen for the letter supports it.

Wilhelmine Bennett's language is so hateful, but then her source would explain that. The Anti-Defamation League has identified the largest and most well-coordinated of the anti-Israel groups; their missions are to spread propaganda to assault Israel's legitimacy. "If Americans Knew" is one such group. What they really stand for is to delegitimize the Jewish state.

This is one of our greatest areas of concern as we challenge anti-Semitism: hatred and bigotry of all kinds. There is much to be learned from the Israeli/Palestinian conflict — about history, about U.S. foreign policy, about how governments make military and political decisions. It is a debate ripe for discussion that takes into account all sides, that considers criticism and complaint in all contexts, that agrees to disagree if necessary but requires such disagreement to occur with respect. It is under such debate that we actually learn so that we might come to our own educated, substantive opinion.

Demonizing and delegitimizing Israel does nothing toward that end. We can do better.