WhatsappExamining the sources of the critic’s misguided viewpoints.
(JNS) Since Israel began a war against Hamas after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, the world has largely supported the efforts and goals of the Jewish state. World leaders understand Jerusalem’s need to defend itself and return the 101 hostages still languishing in the Gaza Strip of the 250 or so who were kidnapped on that Black Shabbat. Still, there is a loud and vocal international minority that accuses Israel of war crimes and even of committing genocide against the 2 million Palestinian residents of Gaza. Although the facts don’t support this contention, they still insist on continuing their accusations.
This begs the question: If the facts don’t support the accusations, then why do Israel’s opponents continue accusing Israel of crimes?
The opposition to Israel isn’t monolithic; there are multiple reasons why Israel’s opponents criticize its efforts in the war against Palestinians in Gaza. With statistically insignificant exceptions, the reasons most people criticize Israeli policies during the war are not fact-based.
One of the most commonly quoted criticisms is based on Israeli opponents’ philosophy on global conflicts. They weigh the necessity and justice of a conflict based on only one factor—power. They assume the powerful side of the conflict is by definition wrong, and that the side without power is the victim in the conflict. They assume the weak are weak not due to their own actions and mistakes but because they are oppressed by the powerful. In their view, it is the responsibility of those in power to provide resources to help the weak. When applied to the Israeli-Palestinian war in Gaza, they say Israelis have power, and the Palestinians do not. Therefore, Israel is wrong and the Palestinians are in the right.
This position considers Israel’s actions wrong irrespective of the Palestinian attacks that precipitated the war.
A second group of individuals oppose the war because they don’t understand the history of the region. They’ve been taught a false narrative that states that Israel has occupied the Gaza Strip illegally since taking it from the Palestinians 76 years ago. They assume that as brutal as the attacks on Simchat Torah were, they were justified because of the oppressive treatment that Palestinians face from Israel.
This history ignores the realities on the ground, Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip more than 15 years ago. The belief that Israel is occupying Palestinian land because it sealed off the Gaza border to Israel and prevents free passage along its seas, discounts the threat posed by Palestinian terrorists pose to Israel. An open border would be an open invitation for Palestinians to commit acts of terrorism.
They view the 25,000 Gazan Palestinians who, before Oct. 7, were allowed entry into Israel every day for work as tokens and not a significant gesture towards improving the lives of Palestinians. Israel’s critics maintain that the only way to sideline terrorists is not through violence, but appeasement. If Israel would give Hamas and Palestinians like them a better life and more liberty, such as free movement across their borders, the Palestinians would transition from a people embroiled in terrorism to a peaceful and democratic nation. This group opposes the war because they don’t see a military solution to the conflict.
Lastly, as with any issue dealing with world opinion and Israel, antisemitism plays a significant role in how many non-Jews formulate their opinions. While some haters are open and loud with their antisemitism, many non-Jews employ a more duplicitous form of Jewish hate. Instead of repeating antisemitic tropes that have been used for thousands of years, they apply a double standard to Israel. This group opposes the war because of the many innocent Palestinians killed. They go as far as to characterize Israel’s war as a genocide against the Palestinians. The measurable fact that the number of innocent Palestinians killed in the war is far less than in similar conflicts is ignored. Israel is held to a higher standard, a double standard, where its actions are measured against impossible standards. The only plausible explanation as to why Israel is held to this standard, to the exclusion of any other country, is because Israel is the Jewish state. Antisemites will always focus their negative attention on anything Jewish.
Some of the opponents of the war deny that they are progressives who make decisions based solely because of a perceived power imbalance or that don’t truly understand the situation, or that they’re antisemites. They claim they are concerned with the high death count because America supplies Israel with the weapons it uses in Gaza against the Palestinians. They claim to feel a higher responsibility to the war in Gaza because it is “their” arms that are killing Palestinians.
Their hypocrisy reveals their true motives. When Egypt, one of America’s top recipients of foreign aid, destroyed homes and farmland near Rafah homes in 2017 and beyond, those who now criticize Israel said nothing. I would be surprised if they even watch the region carefully enough to know that Egypt attacked Rafah to build its own buffer zone with the Palestinians. It is obvious antisemitism that causes them to pay attention to Gaza specifically when Israel is involved.
The Jewish people returned to their historic homeland to create a place of refuge for persecuted Jews to flee and find safety. The Jewish people established a state that could provide them protection from their enemies. The Jewish people have a responsibility to use the resources of their state to defend themselves against all enemies who attack and threaten to attack them. Israel’s responsibility for self-defense extends past international criticism.
