‘Our Boys’ More About Palestinian Tragedy

Which is it? Does “Our Boys,” the HBO series, “showcase Israeli society on the international stage,” according to The Jewish Week, or does it seriously distort history, including its refusal to make clear that the incident of Jewish extremism that is the focus of the series is the rare exception in the real world of rampant Palestinian terrorism, according to the families of 120 of the Israeli victims (“When Israeli Life Is On Everyone’s TV Screen,” Editorial, Sept. 6)?

While the editorial asserts that the series deals with “the trauma of two horrific hate crimes,” “Our Boys” actually glosses over the Israeli side of the “trauma” by neglecting to give viewers a window into the personal lives of the three kidnapped and brutally murdered Israeli youths, who only briefly appeared in the first episode, and into the emotions of their families. By contrast, it humanizes and focuses on the young Palestinian victim and his family amid efforts by the Israel police to bring the Israeli revenge murderers to justice in the remaining episodes.

And while the series claims that it “seeks to explore how hate crimes impact society” and “show the nature and power of incitement and have viewers open their minds,” its narrative of a single honorably behaving Palestinian family significantly distorts the reality that most Palestinians applaud the killing of Israeli civilians. And their monetarily strapped Palestinian Authority incites, rewards and incentivizes Palestinian terrorism with lifetime cash payments to the terrorists and their families, while most Israelis mourn the killing of an innocent Palestinian and seek to bring the Israeli murderers to justice.

Critical analysis shows that the riveting drama that could have showcased Israel to the world is actually another brick in the wall of distortions, omissions and lies that is fueling Israel-based anti-Semitism on campus and now has even seeped into Congress.