Rabbi Richard Chaimberlin
The news media in the USA has been quite good about the war that Hamas launched against Israel on Shemini Atzeret / Yom Kippur (Oct 7). However, apparently attempting to sound even handed, they allow a Palestinian Arab spokesperson to give a Palestinian perspective of the war. This would be fine, however, the Palestinian spokesperson spews forth lies which are never questioned or refuted by the interviewer.
What is the truth? Consider these things…
History:
Israel conquered Gaza when Israel fought against a coalition of Arab nations seeking to destroy Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967. Eventually, Israeli settlers moved into Gaza. Israel’s former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon withdrew every Israeli man, woman, soldier, and child from Gaza in 2005. Ariel Sharon assumed that his peace gesture of withdrawing from Gaza would help bring about peace. He was horribly wrong.
Occupation:
The spokespeople of Gaza are claiming that Gaza has been under continuous Israeli occupation since 1948. The “occupation” didn’t begin until 1967 and ended in 2005, lasting 38 years. Prior to 1967, Gaza was controlled by Egypt, not Israel. The Israeli occupation between 1967 and 2005 benefited the people of Gaza, bringing them employment and much greater prosperity than they ever had under Egyptian occupation.
Oppression:
Two years after Israel withdrew from Gaza, Hamas came to power in Gaza. All the oppression that the people of Gaza are experiencing is under their control. Human rights are sorely lacking in this Islamist government. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been poured into Gaza from Europe and the USA. But, instead of investing this money into housing or schools, Hamas uses this money to import weapons, build bomb factories, and dig tunnels.
Initiation:
Every few years, Hamas has launched a new war against Israel. Hamas lost each war but has won in the court of world opinion when the world sees the damage done to Gaza. They start each war.
Humanitarian:
Israel fights the most humane wars possible, even dropping leaflets warning of bombing attacks in advance. Meanwhile, Hamas builds bomb factories and missile launching sites beside or beneath schools, mosques, apartment buildings, or hospitals. This results in unwanted collateral damage, and Hamas is responsible.
Israel is also accused of causing a humanitarian crisis, while being pressured to continue to supply electricity, fuel, water, and food to the residents of Gaza. I don’t remember hearing that the United States ever supplied electricity, water, and food to the residents of Imperial Japan or Nazi Germany during World War II. The latest Gaza war was launched by Hamas, not Israel. Meanwhile, Gaza has an estimated 240 hostages. Israel should withhold all aid to Gaza until the hostages are returned.
Sub-Human:
Much of the world seems to have already forgotten the horrible bloodbath that was launched on Israel by the surprise attack by Hamas on Oct 7, 2023. Almost 2000 Hamas terrorists rampaged through SW Israel, killing over 1400 Israelis, including dozens of babies, many of whom were beheaded. Children and adults were bound with hands behind their backs and then murdered. Women and girls were raped. The terrorists were celebrating their crimes. There was no shame.
These terrorists even produced videos of their crimes and uploaded them to Tic Tok and other social websites. Many of the 240 hostages, including a survivor of the Holocaust, were bloodied, and paraded through the streets of Gaza to cheering crowds. I won’t call the perpetrators of these crimes, animals. These blood-thirsty beasts were far worse than animals.
Negotiations:
There is another lie we hear from Palestinian spokespeople. They claim that Israel should enter negotiations with Hamas, not war. They ignore the fact that Hamas refuses negotiations with Israel. The goal of the Hamas charter is the complete elimination of Israel. Anyone who is willing to negotiate with Israel is considered a traitor.
I’m sure that there are also good people in Gaza. There were also good Germans during World War II. Unfortunately, the good suffer with the bad. However, the blame for their suffering is Hamas, not Israel.
Peace:
Israel has every right to defend herself from her enemies. Hamas must be eliminated, every single member of Hamas. Peace will come when Arabs seek mutually beneficial relations with Israel.
“We wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against powers and principalities…
against the spiritual forces of wickedness.”