Whoopi Goldberg said, „it depends on who you talk to“, after co-host Sara Haines said, the Hamas and the Taliban are being viewed as terror organizations. A few hours later, Hamas celebrated two bombing attacks in Jerusalem that left a young teenager dead and wounded 22 others.

Dear Whoopi,

you claim that it depends on who I talk to. I have a modest question for you. To whom do I have to talk in order to speak to someone who doesn’t consider the Hamas a terror organization?

The founding charter of Hamas demands the annihilation of the entire Jewish people (Article 7) and the destruction of Israel (Article 13). Article 7 states:

„Time will not dawn until Muslims fight the Jews and kill them.“

In mosques and on television Hamas ministers call Jews bacteria which should be exterminated and vermin whose throats should be cut and whose families should be murdered. The Hamas Deputy Minister of Religious Endowments, Abdallah Jarbu, once declared:

“Jews are foreign bacteria – a microbe unparalleled in the world. May He annihilate this filthy people who have neither religion nor conscience. I condemn whoever believes in normalizing relations with them, whoever supports sitting down with them, and whoever believes that they are human beings. They are not human beings. They are not people. They have no religion, no conscience, and no moral values.”

Isn’t this terror, Whoopi?

„It depends on who you talk to.”

Or, dear Whoopi, do you think, some people consider Jews and Israel as terrorists? If that’s what you mean, who are these people?

There are 1,7 Million Muslims living peacefully with Jews in Israel. They are the neighbors, colleagues, teachers, lawyers, judges, deputies, police officers, firefighters, soldiers, cooks, sexual partners and much, much more of the Jewish population. They laugh, live, eat, cry and fight together. They live together, not only because they want to live together, but because they have to live together. They share the same country. They are connected in fidelity with the trees, rivers, mountains, seas, lakes, towns, villages and deserts of their homeland which they often include in their prayers. They are one family! Some are distant relatives, others trusted friends. 1,7 Million Muslims are affirmative in their attitudes towards Jews and reach out their hands in peace.

Israel is the only country in the Middle East in which 1,7 Million Muslims live securely, in a democracy which allows them to be gay or lesbian. They have the same rights as all other citizens in the country, regardless of their gender and skin color.

Every fifth Israeli is a Muslim. Israel is the only country in the Middle East, in which the people can choose their government and have it replaced. The Israeli government is the only democratically elected country in the Middle East in which Muslims and Arabs reside.

Do you call this terror, Whoopi?

„It depends on who you talk to.”

Israel is the only country that despite over a seventy-year-long war, whereby adversaries aim for its complete destruction, has retained all basic principles of a democratic society. This is unique in history. Although Israel is not perfect, there is no other country which does so well in the face of such animosity and hate. The Israeli Declaration of Independence states:

„WE EXTEND our hand to all neighbouring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighbourliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East.“

Does this sound like terror, Whoopi?

„It depends on who you talk to.”