Politics Plus

No doubt you’ve heard about Hamas’ recent savage attack on Israel. Which side do you take? On the one hand, Israel has the right to defend itself; on the other, they have been stomping on Palestinians for going on eight decades now.

Hamas is a terrorist organization, and I have nothing but contempt for terrorists. They are slaughtering civilians and have threatened to kill hostages. But Hamas did not arise in a vacuum. In order to understand why they exist and why they behave as they do, let’s back up and get a quick ’n’ dirty history of modern Israel and Palestine.

Even as far back as the 19th century there was talk of letting Jews have their own country. Jews view Israel as their Promised Land, belonging to them and them alone thanks to Old Testament legend. Yes, the ancient Hebrews lived in that region, where Solomon built his temple – but just because Jews of long ago occupied those lands, does that give them the right to claim them today, especially at the expense of those who had been living there for generations before?

Paging all First Nations and Native Americans!

The Palestinians were never compensated for their seized lands. Not the teeniest bit. They were simply ordered out of their homes. Then they were allowed some space on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but even there they are subjected to persecution and harassment. What land they are allowed to retain is little more than an open-air prison. Israeli settlers regularly bulldoze Palestinians’ homes, sometimes with people still in them. Jewish Israelis illegally settle in Palestinian regions, and though most nations acknowledge that these settlements are illegal, they do nothing to stop this land theft. And they can get away with such atrocities because Israelis and Zionists can always play the Jew Card and howl about how Jews have been picked on and persecuted for millennia.

If you dare to speak out against Israel’s policy of oppression and occupation, angry Zionists wrestle you to the ground and stamp you head to toe with swastikas. Never mind that you can easily be pro-Jewish and even pro-Israel but still oppose Israel’s inhuman treatment of the Palestinians. Hate the sin, but love the sinner.

Time for a thought experiment. Just imagine you are a member of an ethnicity that has been trampled for decades. Your great-grandparents’ land was stolen, their houses demolished after they escaped with just a handful of possessions. The people doing the trampling are a nation that has the world’s sympathy and powerful lobbies to guarantee it will receive plenty of foreign aid, while your people get only a trickle – if even that much. Your voices go unheard while you scratch out a living, dwelling in a shack and being subject to random searches and other forms of harassment wherever you go. You live in constant fear of being beaten or shot. Those who speak out on your behalf are quickly squelched and labeled bigots and hate-mongers. You hear numerous stories from your neighbors and friends about how your people are oppressed so hard they cannot stand, how they suffer violent discrimination. You often go hungry, not because your family cannot afford food, but because you cannot always get to a grocery store to buy comestibles thanks to frequent blockades and road closures. And at any time what little you have could be taken from you.

Imagine all of this has gone on and on and on, year after year, decade after decade. Imagine you have seen unarmed children, some of whom are related to you, killed by soldiers with military rifles. Imagine your entire village suffers collective punishment every time an angry teenager throws a rock at occupying soldiers or their vehicles. Now tell me you wouldn’t become a terrorist.

I am not trying to justify Hamas’ actions, now or at any time. All I am doing is asking that you imagine you were born and raised in what little territory Palestinians can still claim, subjected to what Israel regularly inflicts on them while the rest of the world pays barely any attention to their plight.

Already Israel has cut off all food, fuel and electricity from entering the Gaza Strip. They claim it is to stop Hamas, but this will harm innocent civilians who are living there. Israel could allow humanitarian aid to get through – when was the last time an Israeli soldier was killed by a loaf of bread? It is one thing to strike back at bloodthirsty terrorists, but allowing civilians to starve and freeze is another. Netanyahu could easily use the Hamas assault as an excuse for extirpating all Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and possibly those in the West Bank region as well.

Not all Israelis and not all Jews approve of Israel’s cruel occupation of Palestinian lands. More and more, Jews and Gentiles alike are demanding justice in the Middle East, calling for Israel to acknowledge Palestine’s right to exist and accept a two-state solution. Hamas’ terrorist actions are unacceptable; however, Israel has been sowing dragon’s teeth for decades.

Whatever your reaction to the current Middle Eastern war, and to this essay, remember this: Never underestimate the will of an oppressed people to be free.