One thing is clear. No matter how upset or angry you are, how frustrated you feel about not getting your rights or how desperate you are to be heard – nothing justifies killing babies, even if they belong to your so-called enemy. To that extent, there is no debate that what Hamas did to Israel was condemnable beyond words and sank humanity to new lows. Indiscriminately killing innocent civilians, taking them hostages, and opening fire on a music concert. It’s shaken, scarred and scared Israel to the core. If this is not terrorism, what is?
The purpose of this article is not to diminish the severity of Hamas’ terrible actions and the pain it caused Israel. Support for Israel in this painful hour is unequivocal and the right thing to do. It is also obvious Israel has the right to defend itself. However, support for Israel does not have to mean ‘Israel has suffered so from now on it can do no wrong.’ Neither does Israel having the right to self-defense equate to no action of Israel can be critiqued now as whatever Israel is doing is absolutely correct because it is hurting and when one is hurting one has the right to do whatever they want.
Because here’s the thing. Israel’s response to Hamas’ terror attacks, of bombing the hell out of Gaza, while depriving ordinary Gaza residents of power, water, food, medicines, and a roof on their head is against Israel’s own self-interest, let alone is causing enormous suffering to a lot of innocent people. It’s understandable why Israel is doing it. It is driven out of emotion, hurt and a feeling of revenge. It is a desire to reset the narrative and to feel in control. That we will destroy everything if we need to, in order to feel better. Except sadly, such actions done out of anger and hurt do not work. Perhaps as outsiders we can see this better without emotion. Pummeling Gaza and making life hell for millions of already impoverished Palestinians who live there is not going to serve Israel well in the long term. It’s only going to build more resentment and hatred for Israel. This hatred be to an extreme level amongst the millions of Palestinians who will survive and will have nothing to lose (because you cannot wish millions of Palestinians away). But it won’t only stop there. There’s billions of Muslims around the world, who will see Palestinian kids suffer as part of Israel’s response. Many of these Muslims might harbor a negative sentiment towards Israel.
Does Israel, a country of less than ten million people, really want two billion people, or a quarter of the world to resent them? The more Israel makes innocent Gaza kids suffer (half of Gaza’s residents are children), the more those visuals will come out and change the higher moral ground currently enjoyed by Israel. Once that is lost, Israel loses the goodwill it enjoys even in the non-Muslim world. Perceptions change fast. React, but do it strategically. Mere emotional reactions are not bravery. Bravery lies in keeping calm through the toughest of times. It is about not taking Hamas’ bait, not getting to the trap of rabble rousers on social media or elsewhere. It is about coming up with solutions that keep Israeli’s safe and prosperous in the long term.
Which brings us to the main point in the current situation. How could Israelis, some of the smartest, hard-working, and surviving-against-all-adversity people on the planet let the situation come down to this? The Jewish community is an example of a minority community in the world that through hard work, intelligence and progressive thought has always managed to thrive and rise despite being persecuted. Then how could they be so wrong in handling this entire Israel-Palestine issue in the first place? Did they really think the solution to the Palestine problem was not giving Palestinians equal rights, restricting them to certain areas and controlling even these areas with security checks, power, and water supply? Did they actually expect this will bring stability and peace? And now, even if one ignores the moral aspect of carpet-bombing Gaza, does Israel really think their response will make Israel and Israeli citizens safe again?
At some point Israel will have to admit they hit a blind spot when it came to the Palestine issue. Everything was designed to manage their security risks – segregation, Iron domes, frisking, limited rights. However, in all this Israel forgot something. It forgot the other side’s well-being. It forgot that no matter what tech or resources you put in place to keep yourself safe, if you do not provide dignity and a chance of a decent life to the group that resents you, you are simply managing to delay a time bomb, not diffusing it. The current hyper-response in Gaza may seem to bring peace to Israel for a while. However, it is only delaying and aggravating the problem further.
Israel is lucky to have powerful and influential friends, most notably the USA. However, this is only because there is a sizeable and influential Jewish community in the USA. Currently, even many other countries are supporting Israel. Things are at a point where a mere mention of anything other than blind support to Israel is condemned and cancelled. However, Israel should be smart enough to realize that all this support is often coming from a place of the supporters’ local politics in their home country. Nobody really cares beyond a point. Neither do they face the dangers and risks that only Israelis do. To that extent, nobody can really understand.
The right thing to do for Israel is to respond but keep it within limits. It also doesn’t end there. Israel must provide a solution to the Palestinians living in their vicinity. Treating Palestinians as third-grade citizens and then managing their resentment with an Iron Dome is clearly not a solution that works. You don’t have to love the Palestinians, but you can surely come up with a way to live in peace. Love and peace are different, after all. Israelis must not just express their emotions on an incident, but also find and show a way that works to keep them and the region safe. The solution to terrorists killing Israeli babies is not to kill more Palestinian babies. It is to find a way that no more babies on either side are killed in the long term.