(Religion News Service) David Michaels - Hamas, the jihadist group ruling Gaza, chose the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah for what has become a new level of carnage. The current attack has been unprecedented in its scope and barbarism, targeting civilians with mass hostage-taking, torture, apparent rape and slaughter. In a country of fewer than 10 million people - barely the size of New Jersey - the losses are profound and the sense of vulnerability well-founded. The enemy demands not limited territorial or political goals but the destruction of the "Zionist entity" completely. Over the past 75 years, Israel has repeatedly offered Palestinian statehood. The Palestinians answered by refusing to negotiate, empowering radicals and continually intensifying violence. The international community must approach this moment with moral clarity. There is no equivalence between terrorists and the only democracy in the Middle East, in Jews' only ancestral homeland. The writer is director of UN and intercommunal affairs at B'nai B'rith International.
2023-10-11 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive