Evil does not need provocation to serve its quintessential aspirations. The Israel-Hamas war is one of a human right to self-defense against pure evil and hate. The recent terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel has been called “sheer evil” by US President Biden and “pure savagery” by Prime Minister Netanyahu.
World discussion surrounding this conflict has avoided the term “religious war” out of fear or a need to prevent a broader regional conflict. But the international Jewish community, many of whom are my dear friends, are feeling pain, sorrow, anger, and unsafe for having their eradication repeatedly pursued because of their sacred identity and spiritual beliefs. This does not arise out of political resistance to land disputes or the ill actions of Israeli police at Al-Aqsa Mosque (Temple Mount) or Al-Qibli Mosque in 2021 and this year. This malevolent violence by Hamas is a historical pattern of religious hate that the Jewish people have endured, overcome, and it is the reason they have reinvented themselves time and time again over thousands of years.
This war continues to underscore the heavy price to be Jewish and to have an Israel State. Israel’s security response is not an obstacle to peace but an ever increasing need to maintain it. A lasting peace for Israelis and the Palestinians who hope to coexist should be a desired outcome of international pressure and mediation efforts. But while Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Houthis, Hezbollah, and other terrorist networks exist, peace will remain a formidable challenge. Have our collective memories become so fleeting that we forget Israel recognized the Palestinian Liberation Organization during the Oslo Accords, acknowledging “the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination”. However, Hamas, an offshoot of another terrorist group (Egyptian Brotherhood), who rose to power in Palestine after violent struggles with rival group Fatah and Palestinian elections in 2006, have been permitted to exist of no benefit to the 2 million people in Gaza. Hamas has declared in their illegitimate charter that Israel has no right to exist and classifies as their enemy any Arab nation or other country willing to acknowledge and peacefully collaborate with Israel.
Hamas has been responsible for various acts of violence and terrorism against Israel that the Jewish people have known too well: The February and March 1996 Jerusalem bus bombings, The 2001 suicide bombing at the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem, The 2002 Park Hotel bombing in Netanya during a Jewish ritual (Passover Seder), Jerusalem bus bombings in 2003. There have been multiple Israeli-Palestinian conflicts in response to Hamas terrorist actions: Israeli Defense to the Second Intifada (2000-2005), Operation Cast Lead (2008-2009), Operation Protective Edge (2014), The 11 day conflict of 2021 and clashes earlier this year surrounding confrontations at East Jerusalem holy sites. This is not an exhaustive list but one to demonstrate that Hamas’ behavior has not and will not change until it has achieved its goal of annihilating the Israel State and its people.
So, culpability in not detecting and preventing this war does not solely fall on Israeli lapses in security and intelligence but on international complacency in rooting out Hamas and like-minded groups for being the enemies of peace they themselves profess to be. Hamas has killed over 1400 Israelis and others, and has caused the deaths of over 4000 Palestinians in Gaza. Hamas and its terrorist counterparts are a monstrous Goliath deserving utter defeat by a David-like blow from the world.
Concern for the humanitarian crisis in Israel and Gaza grows from compassionate hearts. Anti-Semetic speech and demonstrations which have found their way here in American political discord and on campuses are repulsive and mitigates the innocent Jewish lives lost and stolen in each kibbutz, each home, each city, including civilians from various countries. To defend such savagery is the equivalence of forfeiting the humanity within oneself.
What message of hope did President Biden take to Israel? Can lasting peace be achieved by promoting an Israel attitude of passivity, or a ceasefire, when there’s been several violent attacks on Israel carried out by Hamas over the past 2 decades? Will President Biden be successful in applying diplomatic pressure on regional governments who have yet to condemn the heinous actions of Hamas, provides funding and support for terrorist groups, and fuels tensions by perpetuating hateful rhetoric in Anti-Semetic propaganda campaigns meant to vilify Israel for its security response.
A peaceful resolve must be sought for the sake of humanity. Considering the historical context, resolutions may involve core issues such as borders, vetting refugees, and establishing legitimate representations and perspectives of the Palestinian peoples. Recognition and trust can not be given to those who have historically demonstrated an evil intent toward Israel and the Jewish people. Has the world not learned from the unconscionable lessons of the Holocaust that the Jewish people must re-experience the horrors of evil’s capacity time and again.
All democratic, freedom, and peace loving citizens of the world, Israel should not have to continue to be strong enough to defend herself within the very dark reality of what is a universal fight against those who remain a current and future threat against humanity and world peace. A worldly force must propel us from a formidable peace into a future of realized coexistence.
There is a Jewish custom of lighting 2 candles in the home before the Sabbath with an additional candle to represent each new light (life) into the household. I ask that we join in an international call for peace by holding a Yahrzeit, a candle lighting vigil during this conflict and every year on Simchat Torah (October 7th) to honor all the lights that have been extinguished by the intolerable evil that is Hamas, and to remain in hope for All hostages who have been taken to have their freedom restored.
Please support the Rabbis tasked with comforting families, providing trauma support, honoring the dead, while serving their country, and organizations like IsraelRedAlert.org, United Hatzalah, Samaritanspurse.org, Save The Children, Doctors Without Borders, and World Food Programme.
To Live For The People.
Founder & CEO of the Tranquil Earth Alliance
