Israel, Palestine and Hamas: Dispelling some lies and revealing untold truths

I rarely post on social media, and never post about political issues. But following the 7th October atrocities of the Hamas attack on Israel and the antisemitism wave that followed, when my Parisian neighbor asked me if I shouldn't consider?removing the?Mezuzah?from my front door, I looked at him in disbelief, and then realized that something?very wrong but terribly familiar is evolving here.

As a young child in Eastern Poland, my father has been hiding between 1940 and 1944 in several hiding places under unimaginable conditions and miraculously survived with my grandparents and my uncle. The rest of my family was murdered by the Nazis during these years, among 6 million other jews.?

And then it hit me: we don't intend to hide anymore. And if even the whole world doesn’t see that the real problem here is not Israel, so be it.

Israel doesn’t need to die to prove its right to exist.

On the morning of 7th October, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, slaughtered over 1400 people, injured thousands more, burned people alive, raped women, decapitated babies and kidnapped 240 hostages, including children. Hamas also shot thousands of rockets on Israel, while directly aiming at the civilian population.

And since then, the shock was not only to try to somehow digest that these atrocities have actually happened, but also to realize that Israel needs also to justify its right to defend itself from such barbaric and inhuman attacks.? And with all the lies, anti-Israel propaganda and antisemitism that are circulating on social media, we are back to 1939: Israel and jews need to defend their right to exist.

So here is my attempt to straighten out some of the glaring lies and disinformation that you must have seen on social media and other media sources, as well as shed some light on the many untold truths.?I did my best to find the most pertinent links to demonstrate the main points, but you can find dozens of other links for each of these points. ?

1. Gaza's occupation?

The Israeli military retreated from Gaza in 2005, so there has been no "occupation" of Gaza since 2005. In 2006 Hamas was elected by the people of Gaza as the leading party, which also proves that Israel no longer controlled Gaza. So Hamas and the Palestinians had the authority and the liberty to manage life in Gaza as they chose. But instead of developing construction, (peaceful) education, commerce, industry and healthcare, Hamas invested in building 500 kilometers of terror tunnels, educating Palestinian children to kill Jews , buying weapons, and building relationships with Iran and other terror-supporting regimes. More than anything, it continued to murder Israeli civilians.

Anyone who still has any doubt should simply read Article 7?of the Hamas charter, which describes Hamas as "one of the links in the chain of the struggle against the Zionist invaders"?and references a?hadith reported by?Sahih al-Bukhari, which states that “the?day of Judgment?would not come until the Muslims fight and kill the Jews ”.

Article 15 of the Hamas Charter?says: "The day that enemies usurp part of Muslim land, Jihad becomes the individual duty of every Muslim". It states the history of the?Crusades?into Muslim lands and says the "Palestinian problem is a religious problem".

Hamas’ leadership in Gaza is also known for its brutality and merciless killing of its Palestinian opponents, including members of the Palestinian Authority or other Palestinians that dared to challenge any of its decisions

So since 2006 Gaza has been perhaps occupied, but by Hamas, and not by Israel.?

I suggest to honestly ask ourselves: would Gaza be really “free” without Israel?? Isn’t it Hamas that brought most of the suffering on Gaza’s residents?

And another question: if after Israel’s ending of the occupation of Gaza in 2005, it actually enabled Hamas to conduct much more killings of Israeli civilians, including the 7th October atrocities, wouldn’t it prove exactly the reason why Israel has no choice but to occupy Gaza, as the only defensive measure that worked so far, as long as Hamas is in command?

2. The term "occupation" more broadly

While Israel’s occupation of some of the Palestinian territories is an incontestable fact, which I’m personally against - like many Israelis, there should be some words said about the context that led to it.?

In November 1947 the United Nations concluded resolution 181 that divided the land to 2 independent states: a Jewish state and an Arab state.? On 14 May 1948 Israel declared its?independence over the allocated Jewish territories. Local Arab hostilities against Jews started immediately after the UN resolution, and the next day after Israel's declaration of independence, Israel was also attacked by Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Iraq. However, Israel succeeded?in defeating the attacking armies and as a result, some of the territories that were Arabs under the UN resolution fell under Israel's control.?Thousands of Palestinians became refugees and escaped mostly to Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt. Palestinians call it the “Nakba” or the “catastrophe”. But if the Arabs had not attacked Israel in 1948, the “Nakba” would have been avoided, wouldn’t it??

It was a similar story in June 1967, after Israel was attacked by the armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan, Israel succeeded to defeat these?3 armies and took control of other territories in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, its biblical capital, which was captured from Jordanian control.

And again in 1973, the armies of Egypt and Syria attacked Israel, and after another devastating war Israel defeated them.

The Gaza strip was under the control of Egypt from 1948 until 1967, and Israel gained control of it following its victory in the 1967 War.? Famously, during the negotiations that led to the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel in 1978, the President of Egypt, Anwar Sadat, insisted that Gaza would stay under Israeli control, instead of returning to Egyptian control.? President Sadat apparently knew exactly why.

So while the occupation is uncontestable and disagreed with by many Israelis, it’s still important to remember its origins: it was not the result of Israel’s waking up one morning to attack its Arab neighbors and take their lands, but rather the opposite. It resulted from Israel defending its existence – three times – after its Arab neighbors attempted to annihilate its existence.?

3. Is Hamas?really an outlier and not representative of the Palestinian people?

Hamas was elected by the Palestinians in the Gaza strip in 2006, just a year after Israel's military retreated from Gaza. Since then, there were no elections in Gaza, so Hamas tightened its grip over the control of Gaza, politically and militarily.

Most estimates about the percentage of Palestinians supporting Hamas are over 50% . One survey from September 2023 showed that support for Hamas in the West Bank was 50% and in Gaza was 64%(!) .? Many believe that after 7th October the?percentage of support for Hamas is even HIGHER.

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/10/17/support-for-hamas-persists-in-the-west-bank-amid-resentment-and-fear_6181015_4.html#

And we should not be surprised of these high rated of support, when we know that Palestinian children have been educated and indoctrinated for years to hate jews .

So it's naive to believe that Hamas is an outlier terrorist organization that somehow “landed” in Gaza out of thin air . It was elected in 2006 by the Palestinian people, and since then enjoyed over 50% support of the Gaza population.

Moreover, several terrible video clips from 7th October that were released by Hamas show hundreds of Palestinian civilians crossing the border into Israel as a “second attack line” right behind the Hamas terrorists, to support the attack and the atrocities against Israeli civilians. ?Other video clips after the attack show Hamas terrorists celebrating in Gaza with dead bodies of Israelis, and “ordinary Palestinians” take pleasure in mutilating the bodies and beating them while chanting “death to Israel”. I decided to not post these terrifying videos here, but you can find them.

4. Where is all the money that was donated to Palestine?

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, aid to Palestinians totaled over $40 billion between 1994 and 2020, donated mostly by the US, the EU and Arab countries.

$40 BILLION DOLLARS .

So how was all that money spent?? We can all see images of the misery in which Palestinians are living in Gaza. Why wasn't that huge amount of money invested in better housing, better education, better roads, better healthcare, better facilities, BETTER FUTURE?

Surely, building 500 kms of tunnels underneath Gaza requires a lot of money . And buying rockets, weapons and equipment to successfully run the 7th October atrocities requires a lot of money. Someone has made a choice.? And apparently some of those billions have also found their way to the bank accounts of Hamas leaders . ?And it is not different apparently?in the Palestinian Authority leadership. How else can you explain the multi-million properties in Paris of Suha Arafat , the widowed wife of Yassir Arafat?

Shouldn’t Palestinians ask their own leaders some hard questions?

5. 2000 - the missed opportunity for peace

In July 2000, Bill Clinton invited to Camp David Israel’s Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, and the Palestinian Authority Chairman, Yasser Arafat, with the intention to conclude a peace agreement that would have led to a two-state solution. After 2 weeks of negotiations, no agreement could have been reached, despite constant attempts to find a middle ground. This was the last realistic opportunity to sign a comprehensive peace agreement between the two nations.

In 2004 Yasser Arafat died, and in 2006 Hamas was elected as the leading authority in Gaza.

Surely, many of the Camp David accord’s terms were very complex and emotionally charged, so they were far from being “optimal” to either side. The blocking issues included the status of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, and the final territories for both sides.

Had the Camp David accords been signed, they would have ended the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and would have led to the creation of the state of Palestine and to its prosperity. It would have also prevented the ascend of Hamas to power in Gaza and stop the cycle of violence. Palestinians could have had so much better lives today, enjoying collaboration with Israel, investing in education, benefitting from regional commerce, joint industrial and technological projects, employment in Israel, etc.

As many contemplated, Gaza could have become the “Singapore of the Middle East”. Its location in between Asia and Africa made it a thriving trade center during antiquity times. It was viewed as a strategic port by several empires, including Egyptian Pharaohs, Babylonians, Philistines, and Alexander the Great.

6. "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free"?

Some Europeans, Americans and Arabs chant this catchy slogan, without necessarily understanding what it means (or at least I hope so).

It means that between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean?Sea “the state of Palestine would be free". But there was never a state of Palestine between the river and the sea. According to the 1947 UN resolution, part of that territory belongs to Israel. What it means is that it's not the "freeing of Palestine" that the slogan is calling for, but for the destruction of Israel. Quite simply, if Palestine would be between the river and the sea, where would be Israel??

I heard several outrageous explanations and justifications for the "pacifist" meaning of the slogan. Try to explain that to the families of the 1400 Israelis slaughtered on 7th October.??It’s very clear how Hamas intends to apply the “from the river to the sea” principle.? Anyone who shouts this slogan is directly aligning himself with Hamas and its murderous goals.? There is no grey zone here.

Similarly, there were some scholars before September 11 that tried to explain that "Jihad" was a harmless term that meant "internal struggle" and was not at all about a holy war on infidels in the name of Islam. I think that not many people believe in such a na?ve interpretation today.

7. Who is responsible for civilian deaths?

The destruction of homes in Gaza is devastating and painful.? No Israeli has wished for this to happen.? But it’s important to remember that Israel’s war is against Hamas and not against the Palestinians. And obviously this war would not have started, if the 7th October atrocities hadn't happened. But how could you eliminate Hamas, who is hiding in civilian population and using civilians as shields??

- first and foremost, OVER 240 ISRAELI HOSTAGES ARE STILL HELD BY HAMAS IN GAZA, including babies, young children, women and elderly. Israel has said that it would agree to stop the bombing of Gaza once the 240 hostages would be released. But Hamas continues to refuse to release the hostages, despite knowing that it will stop the bombing.? Isn’t it then the responsibility of Hamas, who was not only the orchestrator of this war, but who is also refusing to release the hostages?

- Since 13 October, Israel has given warnings to the civilian population and told them to relocate to the Southern part of Gaza , in order to not be hurt during its operation. No other army in the world gives such “advance notice” to the civil population before attacking.? However, Hamas was documented as blocking civilians from relocating to the Southern part of the Gaza strip?

- Hamas is also well known to be placing its rockets, facilities and people in or under civilian buildings, hospitals and schools .?

Here is another link .

So Hamas is “gaining” either way by using the Palestinian population as shields against Israeli attacks: either Israel would avoid from attacking these human shields, or, in case of an Israeli attack, Hamas will use the death of civilians as a horrible “media win” against Israel.

Hamas is cruelly playing with the lives of the Palestinian population.

- As Hamas built 500 kms of tunnels under Gaza, why it didn’t build also shelters for the people of Gaza, in case of Israeli bombardments? It has already built the tunnels – wouldn’t it be relatively easy to designate at least part of them as civilian shelters?? Mousa Abu Marzuk of Hamas answered this question clearly in an interview with a journalist. Marzuk said that the tunnels are only to be used by Hamas for fighting against Israel, and not for Palestinian civilians . He added: “Everyone knows that 75% of the people in Gaza are refugees, and it’s the responsibility of the UN to protect them”.

Again, isn’t it the responsibility of Hamas to protect their fellow citizens, especially in a war that was initiated by Hamas?

- All wars are ugly. And the death of civilians is always horrifying and regrettable,?including of course those in Gaza. However, as explained by military experts, the destruction and suffering, as awful as they are, don’t automatically constitute war crimes – otherwise, nearly any military action in a populated area would be such a crime. One of the cornerstones of the?laws of armed conflict is proportionality. But this concept is often misunderstood as if it meant equal numbers of civilian casualties on both sides. But proportionality is actually something else: it’s a requirement to take into account how much civilian harm is anticipated, in comparison to the expected concrete and direct military advantage, according to UN protocols. And experts have expressed the opinion that Israel is trying to follow the law of armed conflict in Gaza . ??

Here is another link .

8. The proportionality of Israel’s counter-attack

It’s a terrible thing to find proportionality in any war. It is discussed often in the media as if it’s a mathematical equation. The proportionality of reaction after a terrorist attack is always a difficult and complex issue:

- what on earth could be “proportional” to the slaughtering of hundreds of families in their homes, to the beheading of children, to the burning of babies in the oven in their house’s kitchen in front of their parents, to the raping of little girls … If Israel repeated these unimaginable atrocities inside Gaza, would that be considered as “proportional”?? Of course not.

- Since 7th October, Hamas shot over 9000 rockets on civil population in Israel. The reason that there were not as many casualties resulting from these rockets was not for their lack of intention and potential to kill thousands of people, but because Israel was prepared. Israel’s Iron Dome system destroyed the vast majority of these 9000 rockets, so most of their casualties have been avoided. It means that the numbers of actual casualties do not tell the real story, because Hamas’ intention and action was to kill thousands more Israeli Civilians. It seems logical that it’s not the number of the actual casualties that should be counted, but rather the number of the potential people that would have been killed if the first attacker had executed fully its intentions.

- conversely, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority did not invest any money of the billions of dollars that they received to build any shelters for its civilians. Terror tunnels yes, but protective shelters no. Should Israel be held to a higher standard than the Palestinian leadership to protect their own civilians?

9. The world's silence about other Muslims' suffering

Several Muslim communities all over the world are suffering under local regimes, and in many cases by other Muslims, yet we don’t see any demonstrations, UN resolutions, or Arab nations callings to stop the violence.

Of course, this does not justify Palestinians'?suffering in Gaza, but it does highlight the hypocrisy and the double standard: when Israel is involved, Arab nations and Muslim communities all over the world are screaming for justice for their "brothers". But when much worse is happening to their other brothers in China, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Mali and other countries, nearly no one bothers to comment.?

One might ask then: why is it only the Palestinian suffering that triggers reaction of the world Muslim community.? Could it actually be more a reflection of anti-Israel and antisemite sentiments?

- in China - more than a million Muslim Uyghurs have been arbitrarily detained in China’s Xinjiang region. According to various reports, the Chinese government methods include torture, forced labor, suppression of Uyghur religious practices and forced sterilization and abortion .

- in Afghanistan -?the Shi'ite minority suffers systematic discrimination, killings and suffering under Taliban rule .

- in Syria - 12 years after protesters in Syria first demonstrated against the four-decade rule of the Assad family, hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed and nearly 13 million people—more than half the country’s prewar population—have been displaced .?

- in Africa -?Boko Haram, which aims to expel Western influence and create a Salafi-Islamist state in Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Mali, has killed an estimated 50,000 people and displaced more than 2.5 million people since it was established in 2002.?

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Israel is far from being perfect. And the demonstrations in Israel earlier this year against the legal reforms proposed by the government showed that millions of Israelis do not agree with their government when it comes to interfering with democratic values or with human rights.?

It’s important to understand that Israel is not “against Arabs” nor “against Muslims”. In fact, Israel’s population includes about 2 million Arabs, 20% of the Israeli population, who are Israeli citizens and have the same rights as Jewish Israelis. There are several political Arab parties represented in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. Israel was also working over the?years to have peace with its Arab neighbors, and has already signed peace agreements with Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. Israel has also attempted to sign a peace agreement with the Palestinians in 2000.

Most Israelis, including myself, are supporting a two-state solution. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have participated over the years in demonstrations supporting Palestinians’ human rights and calling for the occupation to end. But as was demonstrated by the ending of the occupation of Gaza in 2005, and similarly by the exit of the Israeli military from Lebanon in 2000, the end of the occupation clearly did not end Hamas’ or Hizballah’s intention to annihilate Israel.?

Even without the occupation, Israel's existence remains at risk.

The Palestinian people have?been in a miserable sad situation for too many years, and some of that situation was also caused by Israel. But the Palestinians themselves should also recognize their own responsibility for their past choices and for their elected leaders, who led them to the current chaos.

Palestinians deserve much better than Hamas. Let's all hope that the atrocities of 7th October were a wake-up call for them too, so that the children of Israel and Palestine would have a better future.