LETTER TO THE EDITOR: On Israel-Hamas war
On October 7, Hamas launched a brutal attack targeting homes and families in Israel. At the time of publication, more than 1,300 Israelis have been murdered, with thousands more injured, according to StandWithUs. Israeli civilians, paramedics, firefighters and security forces were casualties of the violence.
Hamas broke into Israeli homes and dragged men, women and children of all ages, nationalities and religions back to Gaza. Hamas found Israelis hiding in bomb shelters and murdered them on the spot, occasionally while reportedly live streaming. At a rave, 260 bodies were recovered. In Kibbutz Kfar Aza, many murdered babies were reportedly found, some decapitated and mutilated.
Those aren't the actions of freedom fighters. Those are crimes committed by terrorists. That's exactly what Hamas is — terrorists. According to the FBI, terrorism is "the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government or civilian population in furtherance of political or social objectives."
Taking civilian hostages and killing other civilians are beyond unlawful uses of force. Anyone who doesn't see the lack of humanity in that or tries to justify it by any means is unequivocally antisemitic.
I'd be remiss not to mention how this affects everyone in Israel, not just the Jews. The Bedouins lack shelter from Hamas rockets, and Druze villagers have reportedly been filmed giving cases of water and snacks to passing Israeli tanks. A video is circulating online showing Muslim Israeli Defence Forces soldiers singing songs as they head to join the fight on the Gaza border.
The goal of Hamas is not to oppose any specific Israeli policy or action. Hamas is an internationally recognized terrorist group driven by genocidal racism against Jews. It seeks to destroy Israel and replace it with a brutal regime of religious supremacy. You don't have to look far to find Hamas' political or social objectives.
Paragraph three of its original 1988 charter states, "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it." Or just ask Fathi Hammad, a senior Hamas official, who says, "We must attack every Jew on planet Earth and slaughter and kill them."
To anyone who says Hamas rewrote its charter in 2017 to allow for more negotiations with Israel, here's a video of a Hamas leader saying something different.
Hamas doesn't have the best interest of Palestinians in mind. If it did, it would distribute the food, medical supplies and other aid provided to it to the innocent Palestinians living in squalor, not keeping civilian hostages on top of them.
If Hamas had one ounce of care for the people it claims to fight for, it wouldn't hide rockets and other weapons in schools and hospitals throughout Gaza or station itself in a hospital. If Hamas wanted a state for Palestinians, it would sit at the table and negotiate with the Israeli government.
As the war goes on and countries begin to cut aid to Gaza, Hamas will blame Israel for the poor living conditions, neglecting the fact they brought it upon themselves.
Israel does all it can to avoid civilian deaths in Gaza by executing roof knocks and dropping pamphlets to residents to inform them of bombings. Some Israelis only have 30 to 90 seconds to get to a bomb shelter. No mainstream Zionist celebrates the death of Palestinian children, and those who do are regarded as extremists and shunned. Why is it not the same when it comes to Hamas?
Much of the conflict discussion boils down to a double standard. I hate to break it to you, but the world is a dark place, and every country has skeletons in their closets. Israel gets attacked, and the next day, people march in New York's Times Square, saying Israel had it coming.
The sentiment of killing Jews for the sake of being Jewish manifests itself in another form in every generation, seemingly becoming more and more mainstream.
Let's hope and pray for a swift end to Hamas' aggression and peace for all who reside in the region.
Gideon Fox is a School of Art and Sciences senior.
*Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the views of the Targum Publishing Company or its staff.
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