Gov. DeSantis, are these Gazan parishioners antisemitic?

While campaigning in Iowa this weekend, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said, “We cannot accept people from Gaza into this country as refugees. I am not going to do that. If you look at how they behave, not all of them are Hamas, but they are all antisemitic.”

All 2 million of them are antisemitic? The young children? Every single Muslim? The Christians who live in Gaza? What about the 130 or so members of Gaza’s Holy Family Church, who are Catholic like Mr. DeSantis?

Was this a coarse political calculation or a firmly held personal belief? In the end, it doesn’t really matter. For those who live in Gaza, Mr. DeSantis made no distinction between Hamas and Palestinians, between Muslims and Christians or any distinction at all. He made one all-encompassing statement for everyone. He should know better.

Mr. DeSantis said, “If you look at how they behave ...” Writing for The Atlantic on Saturday, Claire Porter Robbins did just that. She told the story of Rami, a Holy Family Church parishioner and social worker for a medical charity, now a refugee himself, staying with his wife and two children at the church after their apartment building was destroyed. About 200 people were sheltering at the small church. The adults were trying to keep busy to distract the children from the reality just outside the church walls.

Father Gabriel Romanelli, an Argentinian priest, runs the parish. If you are in need, his church doors are open, without regard to religion. Is he antisemitic? What about Sister Nabila, an Egyptian nun who is managing a makeshift shelter at the church’s nearby Catholic school? Are none of them deserving of America’s shelter?

Last week, Mr. DeSantis signed an order to charter flights from Israel for stranded Florida residents. Sunday in Tampa, he and his wife greeted 270 evacuees when they landed, including 91 children and four dogs. They are now all safe.

On the wrong side of a wall in Gaza, Father Gabriel, his parishioners and the refugees they are sheltering are not safe. They will apparently have to rely on someone else’s love — and mercy.