Some people might have wondered why I haven’t said anything in regards to this to this point. The main reason is because I haven’t seen a benefit to doing so. We haven’t been asked for our opinion nor has this been up for a vote. So there hasn’t seemed like a purpose in trying to change people’s mind on this contentious issue. But now I have an upcoming post which touches on this subject and, I want to refer to this fuller review of the topic.
I have been a bit surprised at some people’s reaction to the Israeli/Palestinian war. First of all, one error which seems to have occurred is believe that there are only two options: supporting Israel or supporting Hamas. In other words, if one is against Israel’s response to the October 7th attacks, some people assume that this person therefore supports Hamas. Now I think that there are some people who, in backlash to the perceived Israeli atrocities, have swung to the opposite extreme of unqualified support for Palestinians. On the flip side, I expect there are those who support Israel who have others incorrectly assume they therefore are anti-Palestinian.
Hamas’ October 7th attacks led to the death of 1,175 people, 796 of whom were civilians (2/3rds) including 38 children. Approximately 250 additional hostages were captured including 30 children.1 Numerous cases of rape and sexual assault were reported as well as other atrocities.2
This was bad. This was not acceptable. This was horrible. Let’s make clear that I don’t support Hamas in this, nor Hamas in general. Let’s condemn Hamas for these attacks. Let’s not give Hamas a pass for any reason. Let’s not say this was justified in any way.
Now that we have established this, can we now examine what happened subsequently?
In response to the October 7th Hamas attacks, Israel began a major military offensive against and into Gaza. Over 43K Palestinians have been killed and 100K wounded as a direct result of Israel’s attacks. Estimates are that 80% or more of these casualties are civilian.3 Furthermore, Israel’s actions have displace 3/4 of the population of Gaza or 1.7 million people. Furthermore, Israel has decimated around 80% of Gaza infrastructure including homes, crops, schools, and hospitals.4 Potentially tens of thousands of Palestinians have died as a result of the humanitarian crisis5 and over a million are experiencing severe hunger.6
The main argument I have heard in favor of Israel is that Israel has a right to defend itself. The thinking also goes that Israel must respond because if they don’t, then Hamas will just attack more. Let’s say Israel does have the right to defend itself. Is there a limit? Any boundaries? Are they justified in taking actions which kill and harm primarily civilians? Is every Palestinian life worth only 1/36th or less of each Israeli life?
The Israeli rhetoric has been fairly absolute in terms of destroying Hamas. There is one way to ensure there is no further threat from Palestinians: eliminate them all. No doubt there are Israelis who would like all Palestinians to vanish and for Israel to take full control of their occupied territories. Of course their are Palestinians who feel the same on the opposite side, desiring the elimination of the state of Israel and a return of the land to the Palestinians. Unfortunately, leaders on both sides number among those who hold these wished. And unfortunately, these stances merely lead to more violence, death, and destruction. However, I believe there are also many Israelis and Palestinians who just want to be able to live their lives in peace and want to live amicably with their neighbors.
I seems like many of those here in the U.S. who support Israel’s response do so oblivious to history. I don’t know to what degree that is true or not, but their impression seems to be as though Hamas attacked Israel unprovoked and for no reason. This is of course wholly untrue. Israel may not have bombed or otherwise attacked Gaza immediately prior to the October 7th attacks. But this doesn’t mean that Israel is completely innocent, has been minding its own business, and never done anything to harm Palestinians before.
Along with the right to defend themselves, I’ve heard questions like, “Doesn’t Israel have a right to exist? I mean if it didn’t, where are the Jews to go?” At this point, it doesn’t seem like it would be very practical to eliminate the state of Israel. But I think it’s worth pointing out that all of this is largely the west’s fault. In the early 20th century, the U.K. controlled Palestine. I believe it was actually first Christians who suggested the idea of a modern Israeli state (a movement known as Zionism). Jews were quick to pick up on it. But here’s the thing: there had long been significant antisemitism in Europe and the U.S. Suggesting all of the Jews move to the Middle East seems awfully convenient. Of course the British Empire collapsed in the wake of the second world war. They dumped the Palestinian problem on the U.N.
The U.N. decided on a two state solution, whereby Israel would become a state as would Palestine. Clearly, Israel became a state as planned, but this recognition was never granted to the Palestinians.
Does Israel have a right to defend itself? Ok. Do the Jews have a right to a state? Ok. If so, do Palestinians have a right to defend themselves? Do they have a right to a state? If not, why not?
I think another element which factors into this it the historic persecution of Jews. The west seems to be sensitive to antisemitism now, perhaps out of some sense of guilt. It is ironic though, because the west which is nominally Christian has a long history of frequent mistreatment of Jews. My question is: does this historical persecution of Jews now give them a pass? Does it mean they are unable of perpetrating persecution of another group? Is unqualified support of the modern state of Israel (which is a different entity to the Jews) required to not be antisemitic? Frustratingly, Israel has pulled this “antisemitism card” against any country and organization which does not offer unqualified support.
I often think of analogies to try and comprehend things. Imagine China taking over the state of Alabama, forcing all of the white residents to move to Birmingham, giving the rest of the state to the descendants of slaves, and then heavily arming them. China leaves, but the new country of Alabama decides to wall up Birmingham where all of the remaining Americans live and effectively turn it into a prison. They also otherwise make life difficult as possible for the Birminghamites. Analogies aren’t perfect, but can you imagine Alabamans being ok with this? Do you expect they would just accept this? Would they think it reasonable to argue that the descendants of slaves deserve their own state and deserve to defend themselves?
I haven’t really mentioned it yet in this article, but Israel has been able to continue existing and prevent a Palestinian state due to the nearly unqualified support of the U.S. And one of the primary reasons for this support has to do with how evangelicals now believe that God gave the Jews the land of Palestine in perpetuity and without qualification. Therefore they believe they are requires them to support the modern state of Israel also without qualification. (I’d argue that God’s promises to Israel were qualified and that the exile described in the Bible is an example of that fact.) So arguably, Christians are just as much to blame for the mistreatment of Palestinians as are Israelis.
This is dangerous thinking because unqualified support means that there are no limits. I imagine them saying, “Does Israel right a right to exist? Yes, because God said so. But God made no such promise to the Palestinians. Does Israel have a right to defend itself? Yes! Because God has given them this land, they must take it and hold it by any means necessary. Does anyone disagree? They stand opposed to God!” Imagine if one believed that God had given Rawanda to the Hutus. Would that have justified the genocide against the Tutsis? Or what if one believed that Cambodia was given by God to Communists; would that justify the genocide under Pol Pot? (For the record, I hope the answer is no.)
Another good overview, Israel-Palestine conflict: A brief history in maps and charts.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_October_Hamas-led_attack_on_Israel#Casualties ↩︎
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_October_Hamas-led_attack_on_Israel#Reported_atrocities ↩︎
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Israel%E2%80%93Hamas_war#Civilian_to_combatant_ratio ↩︎
- https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker ↩︎
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Israel%E2%80%93Hamas_war ↩︎
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Israel%E2%80%93Hamas_war#Famine ↩︎
