Before 10/7, Gaza had options and possibilities to address the economic, humanitarian, and political hardships and problems. Gaza had even shopping malls, sprawling beaches, vibrant communities, art centers, restaurants, and food everywhere, and a functional infrastructure that provided enough for people to survive and, in some cases, even thrive.
Hamas deliberately threw all of that away and destroyed the people of Gaza with no way out and no exit plan. Every single member of Hamas’s leadership must be tried and convicted of crimes against the Palestinian people; they must be delegitimized, shamed, and held accountable for high treason against Palestinian interests and, importantly, for cowardly behavior like fighting in civilian clothes and hiding among women and children in tents, schools, and hospitals…
Here is an uncomfortable fact that many don’t want to acknowledge: Hamas actively worked to prevent Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza from evacuating to the south. When the first evacuation order was given last October, Hamas’s spokespersons and leaders explicitly and repeatedly told people to stay and not to leave because the Israelis were not really going to attack. Then they said that the “resistance” is more than capable of repelling an Israeli onslaught and to rest assured. Then they said that leaving and heading down south would be akin to treason because Islamic warfare doctrine prohibits fleeing when facing an enemy on the battlefield, which in effect meant that Hamas viewed the entirety of the civilian population as combatant participants in its suicidal resistance project following the October 7th attack.
Hamas didn’t want to be lonely as they faced the Israeli military and wanted to bring down as many Palestinian civilians with them as they could - again, counting on mass suffering as a way to delegitimize Israel and high casualties which generate high pressure on the Israeli government to ultimately stop the war. Now that this nefarious calculus has failed miserably and the Palestinian civilian population in northern Gaza is paying an unimaginably high price, Hamas isn't exactly adjusting course either. The group is despicably and ruthlessly exploiting the civilian deaths that their actions caused and brought upon to keep the focus on Israel and avoid the reckoning that Hamas will inevitably face when the war is brought to an end.
How true. I have said many of the same things myself. What makes
this narrative so compelling is the following comment by Rabbi
Slifkin about the person who stated it :
Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib. Ahmed is a Palestinian who grew up in Gaza, and lost numerous relatives in an IDF bombing, as well as suffering personal injury. He has deep criticisms of the IDF. He claims that their bombing is deliberately excessive. He issues lots of accusations against Israel.
Alkhatib recognized the truth and had the courage to say what that truth is. I only wish that some of my own co-religionists would recognize it instead of going out of their way to see it in the knee jerk fashion the media and Israel’s critics usually do.
There is a lot more truth exposed by Alkhatib at RationalistJudaism which can and should be read there. All of which has been instinctively recognized by Israel’s supporters in congress. Who strongly say virtually the same thing when asked. Whether it is a Democrat like John Fetterman or a Republican like Marco Rubio. Only antisemites (whether overt or in the closet) whose minds are closed to the reality cited by Alkhatib keep insisting that the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of Israel. We know who they are. I’m not going to mention any names. Their voices are constantly heard on the mainstream media that generally sees it their way too.
Now some of the anti Israel propaganda is couched in terms of blaming Netanyahu for everything. While there is a lot of hate for the Israeli prime minister - even among some Israeli patriots, I think in many cases focusing the blame on Netanyahu is form of deniability about the antisemitism that actually motivates them. They aren’t blaming Israel. Just their ‘renegade’ leader (As though he took over by force and wasn’t democratically elected). That makes it easy for them to say they aren’t antisemitic or anti-Israel.
The truth is that the war in Gaza would not have been conducted much differently
had someone else been prime minister. Sure, there may have been some
differences. Maybe the war would have ended by now. Or maybe not. Maybe the hostages would have been freed by now. Or maybe not. But anyone that thinks any other Israeli leader would have held
back from bombing Hamas targets because civilians were there is clueless about
why those civilians were there and Israel’s
absolute moral right – even obligation - to defend their people in the only way possible under the circumstances they were given.
Whether one loves him or hates him, this isn’t about Netanyahu. It is about Israel’s right to exist and defend itself under the most impossible of conditions
On a completely different but tangential subject I was surprised
to read the following news story about the world’s largest Arab newsgathering organization,
Al Jazeera, from a most unlikely source, the PA (Palestinian Authority):
The Fatah movement has announced that it is prohibiting Al Jazeera from operating within areas of Judea and Samaria controlled by the Palestinian Authority, accusing the network of “spreading conflicts and inciting,” according to Walla! The decision was made amidst ongoing violence in Jenin, where Palestinian Authority security forces are engaged in clashes with terrorists linked to the Islamic Jihad. Palestinian Arab sources reported that the ban applies to Al Jazeera’s activities in Jenin, Tubias, Shechem, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, and Salfit.
For about three weeks, Palestinian Arab security forces have been battling armed terrorists in Jenin. Fatah holds Al Jazeera responsible for exacerbating tensions and supporting armed groups, including Hamas. “We have decided to ban the entry of Al Jazeera, and we urge the public to avoid engaging with this channel in any way,” a Fatah statement quoted by Walla! said. “Al Jazeera plays a dangerous role in Palestine. It spreads hatred and incites civil war. Al Jazeera sides with lawbreakers and tries to portray them as heroes fighting the occupation.”
How ironic! When Israel banned Al Jazeera they were accused of
censorship. The PA has now justified
Israel’s expulsion of Al Jazeera. Will the PA get the
same treatment?
In my view neither Israel or the PA should be criticized. When
a news organization is party to a conflict then they cannot be trusted to report
the facts.
Bearing this latest revelation in mind, CBS should no longer allow Imtiaz Tiab - a ‘journalist’ they hired from Al Jazeera to be their chief correspondent from the Middle East. The continued use of this reporter will clearly show the inherent anti Israel bias of the network which should be exposed to the world - and discredited by objective journalists worldwide.
Plain and simple.
