The Standard October 21, 2023
On Saturday, October 7, 2023 the militant terrorist group, Hamas, strategically entered various points in Israel and slaughtered over 1,400 people. Even women, babies, children, and the elderly, as well as young concert-goers, were targets of the carnage. As many as 200 innocent civilians were taken hostage. This was the deadliest attack on Israel since 1948. Of course, we agonize over these atrocities committed against Jewish people, as we would if they had been perpetrated against Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, Christians or any other group.
In response to the massacre, Israel Defence Forces plan to eradicate the terrorism of Hamas. They are planning a ground attack in Gaza and have been dropping thousands of leaflets and spreading the word to urge Palestinians in north Gaza to move south to safety. Virtually no Israelis have lived in the Gaza Strip for many years.
Conflict in the Middle East has a long, complicated history. Tragically, there are some religious people who are convinced that it is a godly goal to obliterate Israel by killing Jews. The founding documents of Hamas spell out this objective. They are a genocidal regime, dedicated in part to ethnic cleansing. After the 2006 election, Hamas gained control of the Gaza Strip, a 140 square mile narrow area which is home to over two million Palestinians. Since then, there has been no free, fair election.
Hamas members should not be equated with Palestinians. While some Palestinians support Hamas, some do not. In the May 2021 Gaza conflict, the Associated Press found that Hamas fighters were operating in high-rise residential areas and had positioned rocket launchers and control infrastructure in close proximity to mosques and schools. Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar admitted on video that several military headquarters were located in residential buildings in Gaza. This amounts to using civilians as human shields during war, which is pure evil. It seems Hamas is willing to hasten the deaths of Palestinian civilians as well as those of Israelis, in order to achieve their goals. Countless Palestinians were and are victims.
Some Gazans mainly blame Hamas rule for the horrible living conditions in Gaza, while others mostly blame blockades by Israel and Egypt. Few neighboring Arab countries welcome Palestinian immigrants. A project of the Center for Peace Communications in New York, called “Whispered in Gaza,” sheds light on personal experiences from Gazans who only can speak out with the anonymity of having their voices distorted and video animation instead of their faces. They are not free to express criticism of Hamas publicly without extreme backlash.
It is worth noting that the Abraham Accords, a bilateral agreement among three Abrahamic religions signed in September of 2020, signified positive progress in the Middle East. In September 2023 Israel and Saudi Arabia were on the cusp of negotiating a historic peace agreement. The work to bring respect, dignity and hope to people of all faiths in the region was a threat to Hamas and counter to its operations.
Surely the coverage of this heartbreaking war has us in continuous prayer for Israelis, Palestinians and peace. We think of the revolutionary words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?” (Matthew 5:43-46a) May God be apparent in the midst of this horror. “I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” (Psalm 121:1-8)
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