Rich Siegel took The Jewish Link to task for publishing a Purim satire that made a joke about giving vaccine “shots” to Palestinians (“Purim Satire ‘News’ Was in Bad Taste” March 4, 2021). I agree that this joke was in bad taste and that The Jewish Link can and should do better. I appreciate The Jewish Link’s willingness to be self critical and publish his letter.

I will ignore the other aspects of his letter, specifically the names and terms he used to describe Israel. This seems to have been an attempt to incite anger or just vent in an unproductive fashion, using a number of irrelevant, offensive, morally warped and misguided terms to describe Israel and unfortunately detracted from the main point he was trying to make.

I actually met Mr. Siegel a few years ago when he, along with a number of individuals, was protesting outside Beth Sholom. I happened to be driving by and stopped to understand what the protest was about. I reached out to a number of the protestors—one of whom was willing to have a real discussion. The rest just yelled and screamed at me as I calmly tried to engage them in a dialogue. They did not seem very interested in dialogue. I did come to understand though, that they were there to protest a “Breakfast for Israel” fundraiser for Magen David Adom. Just to make clear so everyone understands, they were protesting the raising of money for medical services in Israel such as ambulances that serve all who are in need and save lives, regardless of background, ethnicity or race. Very telling. And also in particularly bad taste.