Opposition to Israel's Attack on Gaza Isn't Anti-Semitic
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:9, NRSV
Hamas is a terrorist organization, and its goal is the destruction of the nation of Israel. If you read the descriptions of the October 7 attack they carried out against Israeli citizens, most of them gathered at a concert near a Kibbutz close to the border with Gaza, and in neighboring communities along the border, there was no mercy, no consideration of humanity, and the intention was to be as brutal, cruel and harmful as possible, sending a message to purposefully disrupt any feelings of security and safety those living in Israel might have had.
Militarily, any attempt at conquest would have been futile, and the Hamas leadership knew that was the case. Knowing that Israel would retaliate quickly and with all of the force available to their military, this almost seems like the plan was to provoke the attack in order to create a situation in which world opinion would turn against Israel. Being embedded among Palestinian people living in Gaza, which is an impoverished, overcrowded province into which people were pushed after being displaced by several Israeli-Arab wars, is a deliberate move that is as inhumane and immoral as it is strategic. And frankly, what's happening to people in Gaza as a result of Israel's attack, is as much the fault of Hamas, which is embedded in the impoverished province, known as the world's largest open-air prison, as it is of the Israeli Defense Force's attack.
What Hamas did was commit a blatant act of terrorism, no less horrific than dozens of other similar terrorist acts, including the Al Qaida attack on the World Trade Center. It was pure evil, should be roundly condemned, not only by those who did wind up condemning it, but also by anyone who is genuinely interested in the peace of the region, and justice for the Palestinian people. Hamas, while enjoying enough support in Gaza to run the place, is not working on behalf of justice, or prosperity, for the people who live there. So let's make that point clear.
Is This Kind of Retaliation Necessary for Israeli Security?
Hamas has a base of operation in Gaza because the governing authorities there, whether they actually represent the sentiments of the people or not, created a power vacuum that allowed them to come in, recruit from among the local population, and have free reign to set up their terrorist operational base. So an unprovoked attack on Israel, which had no hope of achieving any real military objective, or of achieving the ultimate goal of Hamas, which is the elimination of Israel, was quite costly in terms of what the response from Israel would be.
Look at the response of the United States too the 9-11 attacks. The "shock and awe" bombardment of Baghdad was an unjustified attack on a country that wasn't involved at all in the Al Qaida attack. But we had one of the most clueless Presidential administrations in history, when it came to foreign relations and intelligence, the latter factor lacking in more ways than one. This attack came out of Gaza, so of course, Gaza would be where the bombs would fall.
Hamas' concern for the safety and security of the people who live in Gaza is, in the manner in which they operate, non-existent. It is incredibly inhumane to put civilians in this kind of danger in any event. To use hospitals and schools, and even religious sites like mosques, as storage facilities for ammunition and operational bases for military operations says more than any propaganda could say about the contempt that Hamas' leadership has for the common people of Gaza, and about how little value they have for human life.
But, does what Hamas did, with this hit and run raid into Israel that murdered 1,500 people and set off this war, justify the indiscriminate bombardment and the killing of civilians in Gaza? Especially by a people whose own recent past history should make them among the world's most sympathetic and sensitive to displacement and suffering because of their religious practice and ethnicity? Does maintaining security and responding to this most recent terrorist raid require bombing an already poor, impoverished population, creating massive homelessness, a refugee surge in a province in which there is no room for people to move around, and where the bringing of economic life to a standstill will trigger starvation?
I've seen some of the images the media has released from the aftermath of the attack in Israel, and it is a reflection of the brutality and lack of respect for human life that characterizes Hamas and other terrorist groups. It is very difficult to resist the temptation to seek vengeance. If it were possible to single out the Hamas militants who carried out this attack, and subject them to the same torture and horror, without perpetuating violence or endorsing it for any reason, then that might be close to justice. But of course, that's not possible. And many of those who are condemned to suffering in Gaza are indeed, children and innocent civilians.
In the long run, the question about the cost of this war is whether or not it will achieve its end, which, for Israel, is the destruction of Hamas in Gaza, and whether the human cost is worth achieving that end.
The way it has gone so far would be an indication that it won't. The destruction and death in Gaza has long since past a point where any measure of justification or effectiveness of purpose has been rendered meaningless.
Whose Fault is it and Who is to Blame?
Those are the wrong questions to ask. The question to ask is how can the violence be stopped and what can be done, long term, to resolve the problem. Human reason and wisdom can be applied, but it will take willingness on the part of both Israel and Hamas and its supporters to reach a peaceful solution and at the moment, the parties are not in any position to be in agreement.
Up to this point, security measures have succeeded in keeping Hamas out of Israel and when those measures inexplicably failed, after years of relative success, the current problem erupted. So how was it that Hamas was able to penetrate the border, getting to where they did, and carry out an unprecedented attack through security that has successfully prevented similar kinds of breaches for decades? Basically, it was the boundary and the security all along it that was keeping the peace.
What's the strategy in Gaza for eliminating Hamas? Complete conquest and occupation by Israel will not eliminate an enemy whose leadership will be gone by the time the Israeli Defense Force occupies all of the Gaza strip. What's left will be thousands of sympathizers and supporters who will blend into the ruins and refugee camps, hide out, or simply exist while waiting either for help or for new orders.
I've heard advocates speak of enforcing the treaties that were made through the UN, stop building new settlements, back out of the settlements that have been placed on land Israel had agreed to cede to Palestinians prior to 1967 and stick to those agreements. But for many of the middle eastern militants, any agreement with Israel is not satisfactory, because their desire is for Israel to not be there at all. It has, in fact, been a mess ever since the British came in at the end of World War 1 and decided that its imperial interests were greater than the native populations of lands they controlled. That was how British imperial rule worked around the world and they meant for it to be the same in the Middle East. It's not an insoluble problem, but right now, human reason and intellect are stymied.
Peace Exists at a Higher Level
There are multiple factors which keep peace from being worked out in the Middle East. Jerusalem sits at the crossroads of three world religions, all of which have deep seated hatred embedded among their followers for the other two. Within a small square of land inside the boundaries of the Old City, a tiny land area of the city, there is sacred ground to all three religions, and it makes finding the peace difficult.
It will take a deliberate effort at dismantling the elements of the hatred that has become the trademark of this conflict, in order to every realize a genuine peace. I don't believe we will ever see this in our lifetime. There are efforts to build genuine peace in Israel, as can be seen by the article that is linked here. But this takes time. For now, the world is beginning to show its intolerance for bombing refugees and killing children and it's beginning to look more like revenge and less like defense in Gaza, an impression Israel cannot afford to leave with the rest of the world.
Saying this is not anti-Semitic, not at all.
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