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If You Truly Care about Humanity in the Gaza War, Choose the Side of the Jews

(Tablet) Liel Leibovitz - In the conflict that has been raging since Oct. 7, I hear the following argument: We wish for the IDF to strike against the terrorists, but we also urge that no action be taken without careful consideration for Palestinian civilian casualties. "We choose the side of humanity." Not me. I choose the side of the Jews. I don't mean it as bravado. I mean it as a crucial moral distinction. It's precisely my ability to feel the particular pain of my own kin, the unique and specific grieving not for all who suffer but for those who are my brothers and cousins and loved ones, that makes me able to then see others who are suffering, too. As those who have actually fought in wars know all too well, no normal human being would ever call for war to last longer than it should or be deadlier than it must. But shirking from doing what must be done to protect and defend Jewish security is merely an invitation for more carnage. To support a measured response against Hamas isn't to spare the people of Gaza; it's merely to condemn them to decades more of suffering inflicted by the same monsters who repeatedly send women and children into the line of fire to serve as human shields. If you, like me, treat Palestinians with dignity and respect, if you see them as moral agents capable of discerning between right and wrong, you ought to expect that they care for you as you care for them. Yet Gazans aren't taking to the streets to topple their murderous regime. They aren't sharing their outrage that babies were beheaded and women raped in their name. They aren't pleading with their leaders to try different, peaceful measures. Instead, Palestinian support of Hamas has been strong and consistent.
2024-04-25 00:00:00
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