Sanders himself has contributed to anti-Israel defamation: In his interview with the editorial board of the New York Daily News, he suggested that 10,000 civilians had been killed in Gaza by Israel during Operation Protective Edge. The truth is that somewhere between 600 and 1,500 civilians — many of whom were used as human shields by Hamas — were killed in a legitimate military effort to protect Israeli civilians, despite Israeli efforts to minimize civilian casualties. Such woeful misrepresentations serve to justify and encourage the repressive bigotry that has become the staple of anti-Israel, left-wing activists.