I don’t know if this post belongs here but this has been bothering me for the past week.
I really don’t know what to make of this conflict that’s been going in between Palestine and Israel. I know that Hamas is undoubtedly a terrorist organisation that has killed and kidnapped numerous Israeli people and used their own people as human shields, and I know full well that Israel has the right to defend themselves from attacks. But at the same time, I can’t exactly say that everything that the Israeli government has done has been all that good either, especially with them cutting off food, water and power, and the reports of them using white phosphorus to attack Gaza. I honestly don’t think that any of this is okay, and I do feel for the innocent people on both sides caught in the war, but that’s something that’s also got to me when reading through all of the horrific information that’s come forward. Why do people act like it’s wrong to say “both sides are bad?”
From what I’ve gathered, the pro-Israel side of the argument has been criticising left-leaning people for trying to excuse the actions of Hamas, as well as the video of Palestinians cheering upon seeing news of Hamas‘ attacks, the lies on social media downplaying or denying their utterly vile actions, and the rise in antisemitism recently. I have no problem with criticising these horrible actions, hell I obviously think it’s warranted, but at the same time, I really don’t know the extent to which these attitudes are shared by Palestinians and Palestine supporters.
On the contrary, a good number of Israeli supporters are equating all those who support Palestine and condemn Israel’s handling of this war as Hamas apologists, saying that the deaths in Palestine are just “collateral damage” due to Hamas hiding amongst Gaza’s citizens, and that Israel isn’t trying to harm civilians, but this “collateral damage” has still is still leading to a lot of deaths. I’ve also seen some people say that Palestinians deserve what’s coming to them, because they’ve rejected five two-state solutions in the past, and a majority of them apparently vote in favour of the use of armed forces according to polls in the country. But at the same time, I can’t help but feel that this is due to indoctrination which, while not an excuse, certainly explains why they believe this. Not to mention there also seem to be a not so insignificant number of Palestinians who do want a two-state solution, as well as the important factor that over half of the population of Palestine consists of actual children.
I recently saw this quote on a scientist’s blogpost regarding his thoughts in the war and what Israel should do. While I do agree that Israel should be allowed to defend themselves, especially from people like Hamas, I just can’t get behind his quote at the end.
“I have reluctantly concluded that those who criticise Israel for any method it uses to defend itself, no matter what that method may be, share the Palestinian view that Israel needs to be erased. These people give lip service to the view that Hamas needs to be erased, but they’re lying about the object.”
Is this really a rational position to have?
Is it really rational to just let Israel’s actions slide just because they’re defending themselves? Is it rational to believe that every pro-Palestine person who denounces Hamas is just doing this to save face?
I know people who are pro-Palestine. Some of them have openly denounced Hamas’ actions while also expressing grief over the deaths of innocent civilians, some have wished peace upon both Israelis and Palestinians suffering, some haven’t denounced Hamas while denouncing Israel but haven’t exactly praised or condoned them either (in fact they haven’t even mentioned them at all). I’ve also seen some quoting the whole “from the river to the sea” mantra, which I’ve heard is supposed to mean that Israel or the Jewish people should be wiped out, but I’m not entirely sure whether or not their utterance of this mantra is due to them supporting this or whether it’s been repurposed to just mean that Israel should leave Palestine alone. Are these the actions of people who want to see Israel fall? Or am I just reading too deeply into things?
I’m sorry if those last questions are selfish and unimportant in the grand scheme of the war, but I just don’t know what to think right now. I hate this entire situation, and think that Hamas needs to be taken out of power, but I really can’t agree with some of the methods by which Israel has used, especially since so many people in Palestine have died.
