Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.
By Jonathan Ben-Cnaan
On October 7, Hamas invaded Israel and went on a killing rampage, killing 1 400 Israelis, wounding 5 000 and kidnapping 240. Subsequently, Israel attacked Gaza, aiming to eliminate the military and governing abilities of Hamas, with 15 000 Palestinians dead and 25 000 wounded.
The Palestinian tragedy is heartbreaking. “Free Palestine” and “From the River to the Sea” are heard a lot. This article will put it all in perspective.
Hamas atrocities committed on October 7 lasted one day and were not witnessed by journalists, while the Israeli attack is in its second month, with wide media coverage, generating sympathy for Palestinians, resulting in more rallies supporting Palestinians than Israelis. The fact that there are 1.8 billion Muslims versus 16 million Jews contributes. People side with their brethren.
Hamas isn’t seeking to free Palestine. It wants to eliminate Israel. It states so openly in its charter: “Our struggle… calls for the eventual creation of an Islamic state in Palestine …and the obliteration or dissolution of Israel.” When people chant “from the river to the sea”, it means the elimination of Israel and the formation of a Palestinian state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea in its stead.
The Palestinians rejected opportunities to have a state of their own five times: In 1936, the British, who ruled the territory, recommended a Two-State Solution – one for Arabs, with 80 per cent of the territory, one for Jews, with 20 per cent. The Jews said “yes”, the Arabs said “no”. In 1947, the UN approved a Two-State Solution. The Jews said “yes”, the Arabs said “no”, and started a war which resulted in Palestinians fleeing their homes and becoming refugees, a sad outcome of a war the Palestinians started. In 1967, Egypt, Syria and Jordan sought to destroy Israel, which launched a preemptive strike, and the war ended six days later. East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza fell into Israel’s hands. Israel considered handing over these territories to the Arabs for self-rule, or to Jordan and Egypt, in exchange for peace. That year, the Arab League resolved not to recognise or even negotiate with Israel. In 2000, at a meeting hosted by US President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Barak offered a Palestinian state, to include Gaza and 94 per cent of the West Bank. The Palestinians said “no”, and started a wave of suicide bombings, killing 1 000 Israelis. And finally, in 2008, Israeli Prime Minister Olmert offered even more land. Again, the Palestinians said “no”.
Palestinians claim that following the emergence of the Zionist movement in the 19th century, Jews moved from Europe to Palestine, and displaced Palestinians. This is misleading, as there was no Palestinian identity or state before the 20th century. There is documentation spanning 3 000 years linking Jews to Israel, including the Bible and the New Testament, but nothing prior to the 20th century points to a Palestinian people, state, or identity.
Hamas, ISIS, Al Qaida, Taliban, and other Islamic organisations are fighting a religious war, wanting to kill all “infidels” and create a global Islamic state. Now Israel, the West is next. When Muslim terrorists kill Jews in Israel, French in Paris, Germans, Dutch and others, they shout “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is the greatest). Between 1979 and 2021, there were 48 035 Islamist terrorist attacks around the world, killing 210 000 people. Palestinian riots in Western cities are causing Western countries to wake up and realise that they have a problem.
Many people view Israel’s reaction to the Hamas attack as disproportional. What does proportional mean? That Israel should kill as many families as were murdered by Hamas in Israel, rape as many women as Hamas did, behead and burn as many babies as Hamas did? Israel urges civilians to move to a safe zone in the south of Gaza. Yet Hamas inhibits the movement of civilians, using them as human shields, knowing that many will die as a result. Such deaths are heartbreaking, but they serve Hamas’ interest in gaining world sympathy and are considered by Hamas “good PR”. If only someone would convince Hamas to crawl out of the tunnels they dug under schools, hospitals and residential buildings, collect the rocket launchers they placed there, and come out into the open, the horror suffered by civilians would end.
Hamas has fired 11 000 rockets aimed indiscriminately at Israeli civilians – a war crime. It fired them from locations adjacent to hospitals, schools and residential neighbourhoods. Another war crime, and cowardly.
To help improve the lives of Palestinians, Israel agreed that Qatar would give Hamas millions of dollars, monthly. Other countries contributed billions. Israel assumed that Hamas wanted to develop the Gazan economy and improve the lives of Palestinians. How naïve.
Some people have accused Israel of being an Apartheid State. Not true. Arab Israelis have equal rights to vote, to be elected, to hold senior positions, and to worship. There are 10 Arabs in the current Israeli Parliament; Arab judges preside in Israeli courts, with three in the Supreme Court, one of whom is Deputy Chief of the Supreme Court. The chairman of Israel’s second-largest bank for the last four years was an Arab. There are 400 mosques in Israel, four within one kilometre of my home in Tel Aviv. Every day, I hear the muezzins calling their Muslim congregations in the neighbourhood to pray.
If Hamas is allowed to stay in power in Gaza, it will only be a question of time before they strike again. The October 7 attack wasn’t the first. They did so in 2012, 2014 and 2021.
The tragic loss of Palestinian lives was brought on by the murderous attack of Hamas on Israel. If Israel doesn’t eliminate the Hamas threat now, the loss of lives, on both sides, will be far greater in the next round.
Israel and the Palestinians will have to reach an arrangement. This will happen when Palestinians start valuing their own lives more than they hate
Israelis.
Jonathan Ben-Cnaan is Barbados’ Honorary Consul in Israel.
