Questions for the critics

Would you be satisfied, then,
if more Israelis died?
If children and their parents didn’t heed the sirens?
If they didn’t burrow beneath the ground?
If the rockets were “better” in design and aim?
If they landed on Ben Yehuda and Dizengoff?
In your calculus, would the Israelis be “justified,” then?
Would it all be more “proportionate” (oh, that word!)
if only those hundreds of rockets flying toward them
left fewer able to run, to hide — and to fight back?

Originally published on RJ.org.

Erika Dreifus is the author of “Quiet Americans: Stories,” which was named an American Library Association/Sophie Brody Medal Honor Title for outstanding achievement in Jewish literature. Visit her online at ErikaDreifus.com and follow her on Twitter @ErikaDreifus