On October 8th, the day after Hamas attacked Israel, there was one thought that resonated loudest in my thinking…
Remember this day. Remember the horror that happened, who did it and why.
Why the resonance?
Because when we get further from the absolute atrocity, we’ll forget what the atrocity actually was… We’ll forget the killing of the innocent. We’ll forget the murders and mutilations. We’ll forget that this was nothing short of a savage act of terrorism.
Our forgetfulness will then result in ill-founded consequence. Most applicable in this attack is to come to the conclusion that there is any sort of moral equivalency between Hamas and Israel. Let us be as clear as possible: there is not.
Clarity is a gift, friends. So let’s answer the Q: who is Hamas and what do they want?
Hamas is an Iranian-backed Palestinian terrorist organization. Their charter, established in 1988, states: “Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.” The river refers to the Jordan River. The sea is the Mediterranean. The stated aim is to annihilate Israel.
While it is true that some Palestinians desire a two-state solution — meaning Israel and a future Palestine coexist — Hamas does not. Contrary to the teaching that this issue is about land, it is wholeheartedly not. Make no mistake about it; this is about wiping Jewish people off the face of the planet. Hence, there is zero moral equivalency.
And yet, now that we’re over a week out, we forget. Not only do we forget, but some tend to even take their talking points from the terrorists, as opposed to the truth, ignorant of that complete lack of moral equivalency.
Last week, for example, there was a rocket that exploded in a Gaza hospital parking lot. Gaza is home to Hamas. Hamas immediately blamed Israel. Israel said they would need time (hours) to verify. Know who chose not to verify?
- CNN
- MSNBC
- The New York Times
- The Washington Post… and more.
Members of the mainstream press blindly ran with what Hamas said, that Israel just caused the brutal death of hundreds (500, according to the immediacy of the Times).
But it was a lie.
The destruction was caused by a failed rocket fired from within Gaza. It was not from Israel.
And yet, there is a current congresswoman from Michigan, Rashida Tlaib, who even after the facts came out, led a rally, emphatically repeating the lie.
Please. Please put Rep. Tlaib on the list of congresspersons — Democrats and Republicans alike — who are not trustworthy enough to make decisions for our country. They are the extreme. They repeat lies. And yes, they are on the left and the right.
Lest I digress, herein remains the problem. The ongoing discussion of what should happen next/what’s a proportional response/should a ceasefire ensue is not accurate if girded by the inaccurate assumption that both Hamas and Israel are guided by the goodness of human character. Hamas is not.
As we watch the support of Hamas chanted far too loudly on some American soil — particularly, eerily on the college campus, topic of a next blog — I find myself sitting here, soberly wondering…
What have they forgotten?
So quick. So fast. And yes, so sad.
Respectfully…
AR