By Oscar Lohuis, translated by Anemone Rüger
Since the outbreak of the war in Israel, I receive questions about this topic every day. How can we understand this war, and what should we think about it? Many wonder whether they should even show their support for Israel in this conflict. Wouldn't that mean ignoring the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere? Isn't it better to remain neutral and not comment?
I don't believe that. Israel deserves and urgently needs our support in this fight against terror. I would like to give the following reasons for this.
1. Victims among the civilian population
Hamas's goal in invading Israel was not only to kill as many innocent civilians as possible, but also to humiliate them to the greatest extent. Israel is now forced to eliminate Hamas, which has become known worldwide as the "ISIS of Gaza," in order to prevent further mass killings and kidnappings in the country.
Israel has no intention of killing innocent civilians. Even now, the Israeli army is warning the population in Gaza that it will bomb certain locations to allow people to flee. Israel aims to eliminate Hamas, and civilian casualties are inevitable in the process, but this is a tragic consequence of war and not the objective of Israel's actions.
2. Human shields
The high number of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip is primarily due to Hamas's practice of launching rockets at Israel from residential areas or places where large numbers of people congregate: houses, schools, hospitals, mosques, and shopping centers. All videos of rockets fired from Gaza into Israel confirm this.
Israel is forced to disable these rocket launchers to protect its population. This inevitably results in civilian casualties. This is due to Hamas's treatment of its own people. They use innocent civilians as human shields. Israel uses bombs to protect people; Hamas, however, uses people to protect bombs.
Hamas is thus committing a double war crime: it has perpetrated an unprecedented massacre in Israel and is now sacrificing its own population for its goal of destroying Israel.
3. Gaza as a prison
Many people sympathize with the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza, and rightly so. My heart also bleeds when I think of the suffering so many there are currently enduring. Israel is often blamed for this, supposedly for turning the Gaza Strip into a prison. But what is the background to this?
When Israel still controlled Gaza (until 2005), the borders were much more open. Residents of the Gaza Strip could easily go to the beach in Tel Aviv. In 2005, Israel withdrew completely from the Gaza Strip, forcibly relocating more than 8,000 Jews from Gaza by the Israeli government. Israel did this to make peace with the Palestinians – according to the concept of "land for peace.".
Shortly thereafter, however, Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip in 2007 (during this time, they also murdered many Palestinian Authority officials, including by throwing them from their homes). From then on, not only Israel but also Egypt had to increasingly secure the border with the Gaza Strip.
Considering what Hamas did in Israel on October 7th, this should be understandable. Egypt, too, is waging a protracted battle in the Sinai against radical jihadist groups (including the so-called Islamic State, or IS) that carry out terrorist attacks on Egyptian army bases. Egypt, too, therefore refuses to allow these jihadists into the country.
Israel cannot be blamed for sealing off the Gaza Strip. Israel has no other choice if it wants to protect its citizens.
4. A Singapore in the Middle East
The Gaza Strip could have become a thriving region between Egypt and Israel. It could have become the Singapore of the Middle East, a place that would have attracted tourists from all over the world, just like Israel.
But since Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Hamas, as an extension of Iran, has transformed the Gaza Strip into a vast military base – with the goal of destroying Israel. The enormous sums of money that were and are being made available to improve the plight of the Palestinians have been used by Hamas to build a 500-kilometer underground tunnel system and to purchase rockets, machine guns, and other weapons – instead of being invested, as intended, in providing for the population (for example, water and electricity). Hamas has sacrificed its own people to its satanic hatred of Israel.
5. Hamas's goal is genocide
Hamas is a genocidal terrorist organization. Its goal is to kill all Jews (and Christians): to drive all Jews into the sea in order to "liberate" all of Palestine.
Their followers chant: "From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free." This means: All of Israel should be wiped off the map, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Hamas's goal is not a peace agreement with Israel, but the destruction of Israel.
Israel's fight against these genocidal Jew-haters is about the very survival of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. There is no negotiating with such people. In such a situation, only the strongest prevails. Israel must show strength, or it will be crushed.
6. Fight against terror
Hamas committed the most horrific atrocities I have ever seen reported in the media. It was an orgy of violence, humiliation, rape, and murder. Young women were raped en masse while their murdered boyfriends lay beside them on the ground. Babies were riddled with bullets in their cribs; some were beheaded. Entire families were massacred.
Cars were stopped everywhere and all occupants shot dead. Israel has no choice but to protect its own people with all its might from such diabolical murderers. Israel is now waging a war on terror, just like the "war on terror" that the allied forces waged against ISIS. There were also many civilian casualties in Mosul and Raqa when they were bombed.
ISIS was defeated, and the world has become a better place as a result. Israel is not seeking revenge; rather, Israel is fighting terrorism. Supporting Israel and thereby fighting terrorism – that hits the nail on the head.
7. Israel has always been ready to make peace
Israel has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to make peace with its enemies. The Oslo Accords and the government's proposals from 2000 and 2008 attest to this. However, immediately after the signing of the Oslo Accords, Israel was subjected to a horrific series of terrorist attacks in the streets of Jerusalem and other cities.
The reason there is still no peace and no peaceful two-state solution is the demands of the Palestinians, who neither 98 nor 99 percent agree to any compromise and do not recognize Israel per se, however large or small a Jewish state might be. This stems from their underlying religious conviction, Islamic jihad.
Once the Palestinians recognize Israel and lay down their weapons, there will be peace with Israel. But if Israel lays down its weapons, there will be no Israel.
8. Many Arabs are killed by groups like Hamas
Not only Israel, but also many Arab countries are struggling with Islamist terrorist organizations like Hamas, which are mostly inspired and financed by the Iranian regime.
Iranian terrorist proxies abound in Iraq (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC), Syria (ISIS), Lebanon (Hezbollah), Yemen (Houthi), and the Gaza Strip (Hamas). Their influence is now also growing in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Countless Arabs have been killed by these terrorist organizations, even more than Jews.
Anyone who wants to stand up for the interests of Arabs and Arab Palestinians must fight against these jihadists, for whom a human life means nothing.
9. Terrorism knows no borders
Even outside of Israel, these terrorist organizations strive to kill Jews, Americans, and Christians. They call on their followers worldwide to carry out attacks on Jews and others. Europe, too, is increasingly facing this threat – this is becoming all too clear in times like these. Israel is fighting on the front lines against these Islamists. This is yet another reason why it deserves our support.
Turning a blind eye to the jihadists and the threat they pose will only lead to more unrest and war in the long run, because they will not lay down their swords. Europe, too, should pursue a zero-tolerance policy towards supporters of Hamas and its allies.
10. Silence is the wrong reaction
Today we praise the few people who stood up against the Nazis and for the Jews during the Second World War. At the same time, now that anti-Semitism is once again so widespread, there is again a large silent majority that refuses to take a stand and advocate for the Jews.
It's grotesque: Just moments ago, the largest massacre of Jews since World War II took place, and already Israel is being attacked for defending itself, and for having to defend itself, against these barbaric terrorists. We must have the courage to stand up to this. We must not be intimidated and then remain silent. Those who remain silent in the face of injustice and evil become complicit.
Let us stand together with Israel. Please feel free to share this article. And pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
This article was first published in Dutch on October 20, 2023 at https://www.christenenvoorisrael.nl/
