Who is Truly Innocent in Gaza – A Critical Analysis

The Cambridge Dictionary defines innocence as The fact that someone is not guilty of a crime. This rather unhelpful definition leads us down another rabbit hole, notably that of the word guilty. Accordingly, the definition of the adjective guilty correlates with feeling guilty about something or having a guilty conscience.

These nebulous descriptions don't lend much credence to our discussion regarding who is truly innocent in Gaza. The Merriam-Webster dictionary does a better job of defining guilty – justly chargeable with or responsible for a usually grave breach of conduct or a crime, suggesting or involving guilt, aware of or suffering from guilt, or just being liable to deserving of a penalty.

But again, this begs the question: by whose standards are we evaluating Palestinian guilt?

Assuming the Western perspective, innocence is presumed until guilt is proven. An unprovoked attack on innocent civilians or members of the military is an act of aggression. Those perpetrating such acts are guilty of committing crimes. In this case – on October 7, 2023 – Hamas and its supporters perpetrated the most heinous crimes imaginable.

Ascertaining guilt in this case is quick and easy. The sovereign State of Israel had its borders breached by thousands of heavily armed marauding terrorists. Their pre-stated goals were clear: kill everyone, grab as many hostages as possible, and burn it all to the ground. It's an open-and-shut case for any law student. Yet, the international community chooses to shift the goalposts to accommodate the terrorists.

There is this ‘plausible’ deniability that the pro-Hamas contingent continually clings to. They realize there is no legal justification for the October 7, 2023 attacks. Therefore, they have to weave unfounded justifications into their sick & twisted narrative. They talk about the occupation of Gaza and all other areas of Palestine. They talk about the necessary and ongoing resistance to Zionism.

They talk about retribution for past crimes. They talk about a national unity movement of Islamism represented by the Hamas strongmen. Yet none of these externalities is justification or absolution for the horrific butchery that took place on that fateful day. And October 7, 2023, will live on in infamy.

This time around, seemingly complex issues can be simplified into bare facts – let’s take a look.

• On October 7, 2023, Gaza was not occupied by the IDF, Israeli settlers, Zionists, or pro-Israel Westerners. The Israelis left Gaza entirely by August 15, 2005. Therefore – there was no occupation to precipitate an attack from Gaza.
• On October 7, 2023, Gaza was ruled by heavily armed, totalitarian-style Hamas terrorists. They butchered babies, raped & slaughtered women, murdered men, and massacred the elderly. Their numbers are ostensibly in the tens of thousands, with hundreds of thousands of people tacitly supporting them and their bloodthirsty cause.
• On October 7, 2023, thousands of Gazans, including many civilians, aided, abetted, cheered, and jeered as Hamas terrorists breached Israel's borders and set everything in their path ablaze. They lined both sides of the streets as Israeli hostages were dragged into the hellhole that is Gaza. They ululated like savages as innocent civilians were viciously dragged through the streets, bleeding, raped, severely injured, or dead. Who among them is innocent?
• On October 7, 2023, scores of Palestinians celebrated on the tops of destroyed Israeli tanks at the Gaza Strip fence, east of Khan Younis. They were seen looting nearby Israeli communities en masse; they provided cover for Hamas terrorists, fed and supported Hamas terrorists, and even housed Israeli hostages. Many Gazan civilians remain true to the Hamas Charter (a vile, antisemitic, murderous cause) and fully support the terror charter calling for the genocide of all Jews in Israel and worldwide.

Yet, mainstream media talking heads, journalists, social influencers, and government officials all over the world continue to punt the narrative that the majority of people in Gaza are completely innocent. It's a nuanced word because there are degrees of innocence, but there is also the issue of many Gazans being actively or passively complicit in what Hamas is doing.

On the one end of the spectrum, it is fair to say that the majority of Gazans (1.8 million) have not murdered Israelis, Jews, or Westerners. It is largely the terrorist fighters who are responsible for the murders, massacres, rapes, fire bombings, rocket attacks, and homicidal activities.

However, that narrow definition of guilt will not suffice in this instance. And it should be summarily rejected by anyone following a commonsense approach to real conflict resolution. Any Gazan willingly, knowingly, actively, or passively supporting terrorist actions against anyone in Israel or from Israel is complicit in terrorist activities. It's that simple.

A bomb maker bears tremendous responsibility in an act of terror, much like the person who is guilty of detonating that bomb. A person who commissions the services of a contract killer is guilty of complicity in the perpetration of a crime. And an accomplice - perhaps a lookout or getaway driver - is not without guilt.

We must expand our definitions to include criminal or terrorist intent when civilians assist terrorists. Of course, there are mitigating circumstances such as duress – but that hardly seems to be the case in Gaza. There is an overzealous attitude towards killing Jews. It is possibly the most exciting national sport in Gaza and the West Bank.

Indeed, MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) TV footage clearly and unequivocally demonstrates the Palestinians’ willingness, eagerness, and fanatical determination to kill Jews. Evidence abounds. Mothers are only too happy to give birth to children to be sacrificed as martyrs for the cause. Unfortunately, totalitarian-style mass indoctrination has brainwashed generations of Palestinians on rabid Jew hatred.

It runs so deep in Palestinian society that it requires a multigenerational deprogramming series of initiatives. This presents a new set of problems regarding the question – Who Is Truly Innocent in Gaza – a Critical Analysis. If the populace has been brainwashed, how can they be adjudged guilty? Without a doubt, their actions are in lockstep with those of the terror group Hamas. But the laws according to which they live their lives ratify this insane conduct.

It is 'lawful' in Gaza to kill Jews.

The terrorist government of Gaza schools the entire populace in devil worship, Jew hatred, violence, and intimidation. Their frame of reference is so heavily skewed; their moral compass is so off-kilter; their ability to distinguish fact from fiction, right from wrong, is so misguided.

Yet these truisms foment a new set of issues – one being the assumption that Palestinians are incapable of understanding that they're being played like a harp from hell. And yet they are. 70%+ of Palestinians still support Hamas and are willing to lay down their lives for the terror group.

This perspective further assumes that Palestinians are hapless victims with no ability to chart their course or discern right from wrong. By absolving the entire population of guilt and laying it squarely at the feet of Hamas, we are only deceiving ourselves. It may not be a black-or-white issue, but many more are guilty of crimes against humanity than the world will have us believe.

#StandWithIsrael #DestroyHamas