Israel's War Against Hatred

I am not a hateful man. Perhaps it was beaten out of me as a child; my mother programming me to see myself as the worst person in the world. Or maybe it’s just my nature.

I never seek vengeance, and God knows I’ve been wronged. By women who repaid my generosity with vitriol, and worse. By men who saw my kindness as weakness. Which, in this world of ours, may very well be true.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Perhaps Israel made that mistake in 2005, when they pulled out of Gaza, leaving the territory to rule itself.

Kindness and respect for the Palestinian people or simple expediency – the Middle East’s only democracy maintaining a Jewish majority in Israeli-controlled areas?

What of Israel’s offer to recognize the result as a separate Palestinian state? (A two-state solution rejected on multiple occasions.) A reflection of Israeli’s “better nature” or a cynical ploy to formalize apartheid?

Rational people can debate Israel’s motivations in its treatment of Palestinians both inside and outside its borders. But we know for a fact what’s motivating Hamas and its supporters: hatred.

The Ends Justify the Means

The crimes Hamas committed during the October 7th massacre (video here) should remove any doubt on that score. Even those who support the “Palestinian cause” should be able to set aside historical grievances and see Hamas as hate-filled genocidal monsters.

It’s hard to believe anyone aware of Hamas’ unspeakable cruelty against men, women, children and babies would chant “from the river to the sea,” affirming Hamas’ desire to destroy the state of Israel.

What do they think would happen to the Jews in Israel if Hamas, Hezbollah or any other Iranian proxy were to take control of Israel? More of the same, obviously.

Obvious to any rational person. Not to someone blinded by hatred. Which, it must be said, describes a large percentage of the Palestinians living – or formerly living – in Gaza.

Innocent Bystanders?

It’s naive to view Palestinian Gazans as innocent bystanders to Hamas’ homicidal fury, rather than supporters of their campaign of anti-semitic hate.

To wit: this testimony from nypost.com:

An educator in Israel for over four decades, Raemer frequently volunteered in educational initiatives with Palestinian teachers over the years and has seen the kinds of ideas impressed on Gazan children in classrooms by the Hamas regime. “These children are taught hate in their textbooks. They’re taught, ‘If you have six Jews and you kill four of them, how many Jews do you have left?’ literally,” she said.

To which the Post adds…

Hamas textbooks have been widely criticized for distorting and inventing facts about the history of Palestinians and Israel, along with pushing an antisemitic worldview which frames anybody killed in conflict with Israel as a “martyr.”

No surprise there. You have to have hatred in your heart to shoot, behead, stab, rape, torture and mutilate non-combatants.

Never forget that the perpetrators were recruited, trained and unleashed from within the Palestinian general population.

By the same token, you have to have hatred in your heart to do anything other than condemn these crimes.

Do Jews Seek Vengeance?

The Jewish people – of which I am a non-religious member – are a generally peaceable people. There are Arabs living within Israel’s borders who can attest to Israel’s willingness to live and let live.

Given what happened on October 7, I’m sure there are Israelis who now have hatred in their hearts for Hamas and its supporters. Maybe Palestinians or Arabs in general.

I’m equally sure that there are Jews in Israel who don’t have hatred in their hearts, even after witnessing Hamas’ unspeakable crimes against humanity. Well, at least one. nypost.com:

“It’s not enough for us to get rid of the Hamas,” said 68-year-old Adele Raemer , who spent 14 hours locked in her home’s safe room as Hamas terrorists burned Kibbutz Nirim to the ground around her… “How can I still have faith that they’re good people there, when I see that what they’ve done to my friends, what they’ve done to women, what they’ve done to children?” she added. “I still care, even though I don’t think they deserve it.”

A War of Liberation?

As I pointed out in a previous post, Gazans living under Hamas’ rule have done so without freedom of speech, assembly or religion. With arbitrary detention and torture. Impoverished, with billions in foreign aid diverted to fund Hamas’ military.

So you could frame Israel’s war on Hamas as a war of liberation. Israel doesn’t make that claim. Nor have they revealed their post-war plans.

But once the IDF rids Gaza of Hamas, Israelis have no choice but to fight the next war: the battle to remove the hatred from Palestinians’ hearts. Or, more precisely, future Palestinians’ hearts.

To put a personal spin on it, I will never forget what the Nazis did to my family, what Hamas did to those festival-goers, or what my mother did to me. But life is better without hate.

If Israel can somehow instill that idea in “liberated” Palestinians, there’s hope for lasting peace, freedom, co-existence and prosperity in whatever remains of Hamas-controlled Gaza. Otherwise, not so much.