Dear Editor,
As I write this on Friday, October 13, some six days since the Hamas attacks in Israel, I realize as Israeli soldiers target strategic sites along the Gaza Strip and prepare their ground offensive that much may transpire by the time this is published. Yet the intention here is to consider how we might choose to respond.
To provide some orientation, since the late 19th century, Jewish immigration to Palestine and the rise of anti-Semitism in the region had persisted well before Israel was declared a state in 1948.
Hamas, founded in 1987, is a militant organization as well as one of two Palestinian political parties. Hamas controls the Gaza Strip and seeks to liberate occupied Palestinian territories. It is sworn to the annihilation of the Jewish people and wants to replace Israel with an Islamic state. Hamas receives funding, weapons, and training from Iran. Although there is yet no confirmation of Iran’s role in the Hamas attack, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei stated on October 10, “We kiss the hands of those who planned the attack on the Zionist regime.” On Thursday, Iran’s foreign minister said that opening a “new front” against Israel would depend on Israel’s actions in Gaza. Hezbollah, another Islamist militant group backed by Iran, is poised to intervene from Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.
The brutal Hamas attack on Israeli civilians and soldiers killed more than 1300 people, including at least 27 Americans, and left some 2800 people wounded. In one kibbutz, Kfar Aza, 40 babies were among the more than 200 killed. An estimated 150 Israelis, many of them civilians, have been abducted by Hamas and are presumably being held in Gaza in a labyrinth of underground tunnels. As of Friday, more than 1500 people have been killed in Gaza by Israel’s retaliatory air strikes.
Hamas has demanded freedom for the 5200 prisoners held in Israeli jails in exchange for their captives. They have threatened to kill a hostage each time Israel’s military bombs civilian targets in Gaza without warning. Gaza is under siege and the inhabitants are already experiencing a humanitarian crisis. Supplies of water, food, and fuel are low, and electricity has been shut off. The United Nations has called for opening a humanitarian corridor at the bombed Rafah border crossing to allow Palestinians and others to exit Gaza. Egypt has declined compliance. The US is arranging charter flights in an attempt to rescue its citizens.
It is important to make the distinction that most Palestinians maintain a respect for life and do not subscribe to the terroristic tactics of Hamas. However, the atrocities Hamas has committed and subsequently live streamed on social media has corrupted how Palestinians are viewed by many. As stated by John Spencer, an authority on urban warfare, “All war is a contest of will.” Killing civilians has become part of the war plan. This new norm is a demoralizing factor. We find ourselves in an ideological struggle between good and evil. The barbarism perpetrated by Hamas serves as the newest step in the unraveling of global order.
President Biden has referred to the Hamas attack as “an act of sheer evil.” He said that the US stands with Israel. Both are true statements, yet the administration’s dealings with Iran have assumed a role of negotiating from a perspective of trust and appeasement. With our Department of Homeland Security suggesting that terrorists may well be exploiting the crisis at our southern border and as Customs and Border Protection agents are arresting thousands of people from Middle Eastern countries, including record numbers of individuals on the terror watchlist, should we consider the possibility that pure evil is being unleashed on the world? What can we do?
Anti-Semitism is hostility to, prejudice toward, or discrimination against Jews. Anti-Semitism injects hatred into society. It injects contempt and distrust into society. It breeds acts of evil. Don’t look away. Anti-Semitism cannot be rationalized. It is unacceptable. Don’t stand silent. Any form of oppression, any form of discrimination, any form of prejudice must be confronted. By looking away and remaining silent, we become complicit.
Peter Wibell Rutledge