Meet Mr Whatever It Takes

What is a Jew with a moral conscience meant to do in these dark days of "Arik" Sharon's Palestinian putsch?

Last week my three-year-old son melted my heart by singing the Ma Nishtana for our Passover meal. The song's four questions call for an explanation of the celebration of our escape from slavery in Egypt. The rest of the evening is spent answering those questions, including the analogy of the four sons: the wise, the wicked, the simple and the one who did not even know to ask.

Should I remain silent - as Pastor Neimoller said he did - as we watch the climbing toll of Israeli and Palestinian civilians, journalists and peace activists?

Do I keep my mouth shut as we witness the amazingly disproportionate use of force by the Israeli Defence Forces against what are essentially the wrong targets?

Does anyone want to know - or would they care - that more Israelis have died in Sharon's 15 months as prime minister than all his predecessors combined back to 1982, when he, again, was responsible for a very large number of Israeli deaths?

Is it "breaking ranks" to be Jewish and to criticise Israel's terrible government now that Israel has unilaterally declared war on the Palestinian Authority? Or is standing up for what is right still seen as a positive attribute?

I know that by this paragraph, somewhere a pro-Israel lobbyist will be reaching for his or her keyboard to accuse me of being an anti-Semite, or a self-hating Jew, or a traitor. Some will reach for their telephones to deliver hate messages to my 85-year-old father - that's always an easy way to respond.

Am I to be intimidated by the pro-Israeli extreme right just because Israel is wrong?