Tit for Tat Is a Bad Way of Arguing about Gaza

The recent spat between Secretary State Antony Blinken and the former Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Oren makes one think twice. No, three times.

Blinken, you may recall, said at a February 7 press conference in Tel Aviv:

Israelis were dehumanized in the most horrific way on October 7. The hostages have been dehumanized every day since. But that cannot be a license to dehumanize others. The overwhelming majority of people in Gaza had nothing to do with the attacks of October 7th, and the families in Gaza whose survival depends on deliveries of aid from Israel are just like our families. They’re mothers and fathers, sons and daughters. . . . We cannot, we must not, lose sight of our common humanity.