October 7th
On October 7th, 2023; the terrorist organization Hamas launched a devastating attack on Israel. The attack wasn’t on military targets. It was on civilians; people in their homes in Southern Israel, the elderly, babies; and notably a music festival in the Negev desert. Over 1200 Israelis (and citizens of other nations) were killed in the widespread assault, and 251 were taken as hostages. Some of those were exchanged in the first ceasefire last year. Some of them were rescued by Israeli forces. And thirty-five are confirmed dead, including six found today. Around 100 are still in captivity.
There should be no question: when Hamas took the hostages, they took responsibility for their lives. There are a whole lot of issues about what Israel is doing in Gaza, and now in the West Bank. But none of these change that “duty of care”; the responsibility for the lives taken over. Those young adults in the desert, those senior citizens in their homes, those babies; had no say in the matter.
Hersh
For those of us who watched the Democratic Convention; we heard the anguished story of an American citizen, twenty-three year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin, told by his parents. He went to the concert in the desert. When Hamas attacked, he took shelter with dozens in a small bomb shelter. The lower part of his left arm was blown off by a grenade, but Hersh survived the attack to be taken hostage.
He was alive two weeks ago while his parents stood at the Democratic Convention podium in Chicago and asked for help. He was alive when they asked Democrats, the President, the United States, Israel and Hamas, to finish the deal and get their son freed. Hersh was alive yesterday morning. Today, he is dead in a tunnel in Gaza. He was murdered by his captors as Israeli forces closed in, along with five other hostages.
Those that support Hamas have nothing of value to talk about. Terrorism is beyond any reason; it negates any legitimate grievance. Those that killed and continue to kill thousands of innocent Israelis, and Americans and others, deserve only just retribution for their acts.
Lay Waste
But it is the Middle East, and like every other issue in the region, it’s not that simple.
Hamas is not every Palestinian: it doesn’t even represent every Palestinian. The 1200 and now more killed by Hamas does not justify the utter devastation of Gaza and the death caused by Israeli actions. Over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed. Even accepting the Israeli estimates that 17,000 were Hamas fighters, that still leaves 23,000 civilian deaths, many of them elderly and babies. The Israeli forces attack indiscriminately, which makes it difficult for the world to discriminate between terrorist and aggrieved victim.
It is clear that the Israeli policy, led by Prime Minister Netanyahu, is to “lay waste” to Gaza. Their action does not look like an attack on Hamas. It looks like the ancient Roman army laying waste to Carthage, destroying the city and selling the population into slavery. It is clear that not only is Israel determined to kill every Hamas fighter, but also every innocent Palestinian in the way.
US President Biden is committed to getting a ceasefire in the region. It’s hard to imagine: through all of the destruction and innocent death, there are still representatives from all sides in the same city. They are not sitting at the same table, but they are still attempting to reach some kind of agreement to stop the violence. But it’s now too late for Hersh, and too late for the thousands of Palestinian innocents.
But the block to agreement isn’t Hamas. It’s Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. And it’s time to ask why.
One State
Netanyahu is in a tenuous political position. Not unlike ex-President Trump’s situation, Netanyahu faces criminal charges in the Israeli Courts, held in abeyance while he serves as leader of the government. Should Netanyahu be removed from office, he faces possible conviction and imprisonment. The coalition that keeps him in office is a deal with his “devil”, the far-right political parties of Israel. They are intent on not only the destruction of Gaza, but also the end of talk of a “two-state solution” for Israel and Palestine. They don’t want two states, they want an Israeli state that includes all of the Palestinian territory, but not the Palestinians themselves.
Israel is a democracy, but the far-right’s “one state” would not include Palestinian citizenship. In the end, there are as many Palestinians as Israelis; a single democracy would mean that Israel would no longer be a Jewish state. But democracy cannot exist with an equal group that is not free to express themselves – so getting rid of Palestinians is the only choice for their “one state” solution.
Provocation
As long as war continues, Netanyahu is safe from calls for an Israeli election, and from the collapse of his own coalition. So each time it looks like there is progress in negotiations, he allows one more act to push Israel deeper into war. He allowed the assassination of the Hamas negotiator. He antagonized Hezbollah, another terrorist organization to the north of Israel. And now, he is sending Israeli forces into the West Bank, the other Palestinian enclave under Israeli control.
Of course President Biden is frustrated with Netanyahu. Every time the negotiations seem close to success, the Prime Minister adds one more provocation. But Biden also recognizes the original premise of this conflict: Hamas attacked Israel. So he must balance the two as he continues to pressure Israel to sign a deal. It’s “easy” for those suffering for the Palestinians to say, stop sending weapons to Israel. But those weapons are the only real leverage Biden has. He can’t just “stop”, if he does then he loses the US seat at the negotiating table.
And, of course, President Biden is devastated by the all the death, but particularly the death of Hersh. No one knows better the pain of the death of a child than the President.
This ends when Netanyahu decides it ends. A majority of Israelis, and it sounds like, a majority of Israeli military advisors want it to end as well. So what is Netanyahu waiting for? Why does he continue to deepen the conflict?
Perhaps he hopes for the election of Donald Trump.
