In Search Of Humanity
Earlier this week, we awoke to news of a brazen attack by the terrorist group Hamas against innocent Israeli citizens, killing over 1,200 men, women, and children. Up to 5,000 projectiles were fired into Israel, leaving devastation and destruction in its wake. Some were killed in the sanctity of their homes; others while on boats; and even some were tragically killed while enjoying a music festival. Innocent men, women, and even children were kidnapped and are being held hostage. Everyone swiftly and wholeheartedly condemned these attacks, and rightfully so. These attacks destroyed whole families, left parents childless, left other children orphans, and traumatized a whole generation. Hamas was not acting in the best interest of Palestinians because, if they had, they would’ve realized that sowing the seed of violence would only reap more of the same and also take away attention from legitimate Palestinian grievances.
Over the next few days, what I started to notice is that the sympathy for Jewish victims soon turned into a broad stroke of blame being painted on Palestinians as a whole. Those who had prayed for peace for Israeli victims soon were giving way to the dismissal of any Palestinian fears of retribution. When reports came out that Israel was preparing to strike Gaza, people who I thought were defenders of human rights were now rooting for indiscriminate violence against innocent people who were not a part of Hamas. They ignored the hundreds of Palestinians who were killed by subsequent airstrikes. They were not thinking about the innocent men, women, children, or babies who would be casualties of a siege. They have ignored the reports of Palestinians having their lights cut off, water shut off, and resources cut off (a violation of international law). They have ignored Israel’s use of white phosphorus munitions which can seriously harm civilians. They remain silent about the real threat of ethnic cleansing and mass displacement in Palestine. Subconsciously, they are saying that some people were worthy of our empathy, while some were doomed to their fate.
It reminded me of America’s response after 9/11 all those years ago. I can remember as a kid questioning why the US had gone from “unity” to waging a war in a country that had nothing to do with the attacks. I can remember George Bush lying to the American people and costing thousands of lives. I see our government using that same language now. I was disappointed with how long the Biden administration took to push back against any impending violation of international law by Israel. Look, I have no problem with us backing or defending our allies (as we should), but diplomatic ties should never supersede what is right. But then again, I forgot it is election season.
Another terrible consequence of Hamas’s evil attacks is that we have now buried legitimate Palestinian concerns. I’m not going to act like I’m a political expert, but I know this struggle is only decades old. A century ago, this area of conflict was pretty peaceful. During World War I, while the area was under Ottoman rule, the British promised a homeland for Jewish people who had been scattered abroad. The problem was that Arabs were already settled there. After the war, Britain was given Palestine, and at the same time, thousands of Jewish settlers moved in, leading to conflict between Jews and Arabs.
After the Holocaust and World War II, the United Nations split Palestine into two states for each group. Since then, there has been this constant conflict, with even the greater Arab world getting involved. Leaders have been assassinated and civilians killed. The most recent issue arose in 2005 when Israel withdrew from Gaza but at the same time set up a blockade basically separating Palestinians from everyone else. This has led to economic suffering, joblessness, and state-sponsored violence. Amnesty International has even compared Israel’s actions to apartheid. At the same time, the terrorist group Hamas came into power, and tensions have only risen since then.
Now we’ve arrived to today. I don’t claim to have an easy solution to this conflict, but I do know that killing innocent people is immoral, I don’t care what the cause is. I do know that while I 100% support Israel’s right to exist, I believe Palestinians are deserving of their own state and that apartheid rule must stop. I do know that kidnapping and holding Jewish children hostage is just as evil as bombing Palestinian children in hospitals. I do know that the empathy and righteous indignation that we have for Jewish victims should be given to all victims in the human struggle for dignity, no matter if they’re Palestinian, Ukrainian, Ethiopian, Eritrean, or Black American. We must see the humanity in all of us. The day we give over to believing that the sins of a few condemn the whole, we have become the villains in our own story. If we cede the truth just to join the mob, then we’ve lost our moral clarity. In the imperfect struggle to perfect ourselves, we can’t ever lose our humanity.
