Israel unfairly portrayed as aggressor in conflict with Hamas
The Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas are directly responsible for what transpired in Gaza since. Let me be crystal clear right now that the loss of any life is a tragedy no matter what “side” one may find themselves agreeing with. Yet it is imperative that we acknowledge that every sovereign nation has the right to not only defend itself but to dig out the root of the source of the attack.
The history between Israel and its enemies is long and complicated, and cannot be presented here in this forum. Yet it is imperative to be reminded that Israel offered a two- state solution (Gaza and the lion’s share of the West Bank) to Yasser Arafat when Yitzhak Rabin was the prime minister of Israel under the watchful eye of President Clinton, and it was rejected by the Palestinian Liberation leadership and countless Arab partners.
Why? Because the Palestinian mantra has been “from the river to the sea”; they have never pursued peace, because peace in their ideology is that Israel cannot and will not exist. There is a saying that was attributed Golda Meir, the prime minister of Israel in the 1970s; “If the Arabs lay down their weapons there would be peace. If Israel lays down their weapons there would be no Israel.”
The reality is that we live in a world where the oppressed (Israel) is perceived to be the oppressor. Israel’s rebirth is a direct result of the Holocaust where another monster, Nazi Germany, took up the heinous agenda of eliminating world Jewry.
Israel since being reborn in 1948 has not had many years of peace — defending its borders has been a full-time job. Being a very small country, Israel does not have room for error. If the country lets its guard down like on Oct. 7 it pays a bloody price. On that day, Israeli officials estimate, more than 1,200 lives were lost, in what can only be described as an evil massacre perpetrated by inhumane monsters.
A recent article in The Morning Call shared the outcry of Israel’s response to this execution of innocent men, women and children, young and old, yet in that article there is no mention of the horrendous loss of life and how it was perpetrated that led to Israel’s response to defend its people.
Those raging against Israel’s response rarely if ever mention the crime against humanity that ignited these recent days and weeks. Where is the outcry for those that caused it to be held accountable? Hamas, a proxy itself of Iran, and its proxies cry foul for being help accountable by Israel.
If anybody is under occupation, it is the innocent Gazans by Hamas. There is no reasonable comparison of Hamas’ brutal attacks to Israel’s response. We hear the cry of proportional response, what is that by the way? Any country that is looking out for life and limb for each of its citizens does not respond in proportion, but a response that looks to eliminate another despicable act.
I wonder how World War II would have ended up with proportional response, or how America would respond if Mexico fired hundreds or thousands of missiles into Texas? How do you fight a war, with an enemy that hates you and appears to hate its own people?
There are agreed upon rules of war, but both sides need to abide by them. Israel’s military may be the most humane organization of its kind in the world. As a society it cares about people, on both sides of the equation.
If Hamas cared about people, it would not have attacked, nor taken hostages and used its own people as human shields. This war could have been avoided by Hamas. The suffering and death could have been avoided. This war is as much an ideological battle as it is one of the flesh. Free the hostages, and when the smoke clears, lift up a government that will serve the people of Gaza with love and care. Seek peace not war, and war will die, not her people.