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When Hamas Fires Missiles at Israeli Homes, Forget Nuance

(JNS-Algemeiner) Jonathan S. Tobin - Influential voices in the media and popular culture tell us to see all wars as mere madness in which the combatants are to be equally condemned. But at the core of the effort to promote nuance about the conflict between Israel and Hamas is something that is fundamentally dishonest. The point of this kind of commentary is to depict the Palestinians as the more sympathetic underdogs who are being abused by the Israelis. Over 100 Palestinians have reportedly died in Gaza as the result of strikes by the Israel Defense Forces against Hamas positions. Many are Hamas operatives responsible for the attacks on Israel. Others were killed by Hamas rockets that fell short and landed on their own people. But what is important is that Arab civilians were not and are not targeted by the IDF. If a greater number of Palestinians die, it is because their Islamist rulers in Gaza think that is an optimal outcome, because it helps besmirch Israel's reputation. If they cared about saving lives, they would build bomb shelters for their citizens. Gaza, which has what may be one of the world's most elaborate and extensive tunnel systems, has shelters, but they are for the rockets Hamas shoots at Israel and those who fire them. When Islamist terrorists rain down missiles on Israel, it's not enough to talk about complexity or to pray for peace. The only moral thing to do is to denounce the lies, not to talk about restraint from both sides. If you care about justice, and the lives of Jews and Arabs, you have to support efforts to defeat Hamas, not appease or reward it. Those who cannot grasp this or who cling to ideological talking points about privilege, aren't expressing compassion or even neutrality. They are aiding and abetting murder.
2021-05-16 00:00:00
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