Appalling slaughter
Having had a large degree of empathy for the Palestinian people for over twenty five years, especially those living on the Gaza Strip, I feel a strong desire to comment on the current situation.
The appalling slaughter of over one thousand Jews by Hamas is an outrage of epic dimensions. What occurred on October 7 will live on for eternity in the short history of the Jewish state. However, Israel’s response has to be viewed as butchery and mindless savagery. To snuff out the lives of thousands of innocent women and children in Gaza is a typical response by a far right government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, a Prime Minister with blood on his hands. In my view nothing good will happen while this ‘hawk’ remains in the Knesset.
Yes, Hamas is a terrorist organization, but they provide welfare and a degree of succour for its most desperate citizens.
Is it so terribly wrong of me to yearn for justice for the Palestinians? The Jews constantly flout international law by building settlements on the West Bank. Currently, the Palestinians on the West Bank are enduring intimidation by the Israeli army and illegal settlers. They are being forced out of their homeland, a land that is rightly theirs.
My thought processes decree that Israel should be allowed to live in peace, I am in no way anti-Jew. The Irgun resistance movement fought to help forge the creation of the Jewish state in 1948. A state which created a homeland for the persecuted, the displaced, the haunted.
A two state solution is very possible between the Jews and the Arabs. If the militant wing of Hamas can be reduced a coalition between the Palestinian Authority and the political face of Hamas can forge a strong accord led by Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority. Abbas has been sidelined somewhat, but his political nous and wisdom can help create at the very least a ceasefire and dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians.