Say, “I don’t believe the numbers.” Insist “It’s complicated.”

Say, “There is no alternative. Hamas has called for the destruction of the state of Israel and thus, Hamas must be destroyed.” Disregard the Israeli leaders who have called for the complete destruction and subsequent ethnic cleansing of Gaza.

There are many ways to lie.

Maintain that “Israel has a right to defend itself. Redefine “defense” on a daily basis to meet ever-evolving conditions on the ground. Decline to notice that, to the uninitiated, including the International Court of Justice, “defense” looks an awful lot like “genocide.”

Loudly condemn any expression of concern for the ongoing bombardment of Gaza if it doesn’t contain the obligatory condemnation of the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. Fail to appreciate the number of times the 10/7 attack has been decried with zero mention of the subsequent scorched-earth campaign in Gaza.

Do not challenge international defunding of the most successful and extensive aid organization in Gaza, despite the current food insecurity/catastrophe/famine, based on the unsubstantiated Israeli claim that 12 of UNRWA’s 13,000 employees participated in the Oct. 7 attack.

Deny that there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Alternatively, blame every inch of the crisis on Hamas, which “doesn’t care about Palestinians,” including their parents, siblings, children, and extended family. Instead, they are “animals.” Ignore any similarity to Hitler calling Jews “rats.”

Fail to notice that the Israeli campaign of Gazan annihilation is making Jews, and their American enablers, less and not more safe for generations to come. Do not ponder the next generation of extremists that is being created daily, whether or not they use the name “Hamas.”

Close your eyes to other people’s children eating grass and animal feed to survive, or undergoing surgery on bomb-shattered limbs without anesthesia, due to the almost complete blockade of aid. After all, they are not your children. Murmur something like, “Ah well, the tragedy of war.”

Pretend that Israeli actions are not a toxic mix of racism and pure vengeance mixed with Netanyahu’s need to prolong the war so he goes to jail later rather than sooner.

Carefully ignore the deliberate targeting of: journalists, hospitals, medical personnel, children, U.N. schools and shelters, aid workers, starving people seeking food aid, ambulances, mosques, apartment buildings, and, let’s face it, everything and everyone in Gaza. Assert “Hamas must be destroyed at all costs,” and “the end justifies the means.” Overlook the many experts who say that destroying Hamas is not possible.

Be smug in the knowledge that the vast majority of U.S. elected officials, despite minimal to nonexistent hand-wringing, continue to send billions in military aid to Israel, violating both U.S. and international law that prohibits arming countries that block lifesaving aid, carry out “collective punishment,” use starvation as a weapon of war, etc., aka ”war crimes.” Ignore that Israel has universal health care and that perhaps, before looking for additional handouts, they could pillage their own health care spending to fund wars just like their U.S. benefactors have consistently done.

Insist, against all reason, that “a cease-fire at this juncture would only serve to prolong the suffering of Palestinians.” Accuse those calling for one of antisemitism. Make sure to include that any Jew who criticizes Israel is “self-hating.”

Avoid imagining the likely lifelong trauma of surviving, according to experts, one of the “deadliest and most destructive” military campaigns in modern history. All while losing sometimes scores of family members, as the world yawns and the U.S. sends more taxpayer-funded munitions. Point out how even Arab countries don’t like the Palestinians.

Avoid the mathematical calculation that, just for above-rubble casualties, Israel has exacted at least 30 Palestinian lives for each of the 1,139 Israeli residents killed in the Hamas terrorist attack of Oct. 7. Discount the likelihood that Netanyahu is aiming for a ratio of at least 50:1 or maybe 100:1.

Cheer the distribution of assault rifles to “civilian security squads” in the West Bank while overlooking the extra-judicial killings, by both civilians and Israeli security forces, of at least 450 unarmed West Bank Palestinians and detention of more than 7,350 since Oct. 7. See, “Israelis have a right to ‘defend’ themselves,” above.

Celebrate the Israeli rescue of two hostages that killed 67 or maybe 100 Palestinians. Remember that there is no price too high for an Israeli life. Besides, Hamas started it. See: “30:1-and-counting ratio,” above. Oh yeah, and the “tragedy of war.”

Fail to imagine how history will look back on Israeli and U.S. actions. (Spoiler alert: “unfavorably.”)

Nancy Grossman lives in Leverett.