Important Context When Talking About The War
By Yarden Morad
Following the biggest massacre of Jews since the holocaust and the war that ensued, discourse around Israel and the conflict rose dramatically. While a significant chunk of it has been meaningful, there are some badly uninformed takes. Below, I provide important data points people should know when talking about Israel, especially in the context of the war.
First, I would start from the basics, Hamas does not represent all Palestinians, so the framing of “Israel-Palestine” is lacking some important information. The Palestinians are divided geographically and in terms of leadership. The Palestinian Authority controls the West Bank, while Hamas controls Gaza. As a consequence, it would be wrong to say that Israel is conducting a campaign against the Palestinians, as it targets Hamas.
Second, there is no genocide, as the campaign is not directed at the Palestinian people. Genocide is “the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.” This clearly does not describe the ongoing war. Israel has the intent of destroying Hamas, a U.S. Designated terrorist organization, not the Palestinian people.
Now, I would dive into the more nuanced part of the arguments, chief among them, the debate around a ceasefire. In my view, when talking about a ceasefire, there needs to be an honest look at the alternatives. In this case, the alternatives are clear — if there is a ceasefire, Hamas, a terrorist organization, will continue to rule the Gaza Strip, and as a result, Israel will continue to impose a siege on it. This is a dire outcome, since the people of Gaza will continue to live in severe poverty while the nearby kibbutzim and towns will not be safe. In addition, a ceasefire sends the wrong message to terrorist organizations, and terror supporting countries like Iran — that they can attack Israel without suffering grave consequences.
Further, I would like to discuss some sentiments I have seen recently in social media posts, that in my view deserve clarification. Here are some examples:
“How can we support the Israeli government which includes extremists to do the right thing?” — a very fair question to ask. First, since the war has started, the composition of the government has changed. Benny Gantz’s opposition party — “National Unity” — joined the ruling government. In the process, a new forum has been created to lead the war efforts, which does not include Netanyahu’s extreme coalition partners and represents a much broader swath of Israelis. As a result, there can be more confidence in the decision making process of this particular body. Furthermore, the U.S. and Europe are monitoring the situation carefully, and urge Israel to minimize civilian casualties as much as possible. On the other hand, extreme forces are still present in the coalition. They often voice incendiary comments which make the situation worse and threaten to open a new front in the West Bank.
“What about the death toll, can’t Israel be more responsible?” — a great question which can’t be answered in full. But, there is still a point that needs to be made anytime one hears about a death toll — Hamas uses civilians as human shields. I can’t emphasize this enough, they have no responsibility for the population in the Gaza strip, as they hide in Mosques, hospitals, and schools, which makes them targets for the IDF, and in turn produces horrible images that are hard for the Western world to swallow. Another important point is that the Gaza Strip is very densely populated, as the Washington Post notes: “The Gaza Strip has almost exactly the same land area as Las Vegas but more than three times the population. Its largest city, Gaza City, is more tightly packed than New York City, with more than 650,000 people living within its 18 square miles.” In short, it is very hard for any army to avoid killing people when they are so tightly packed within a small area. On the other hand, there is certainly a chance that not enough is being done to protect civilians, although nobody can be sure of this fact, since very few are actually exposed to the targets and planning of the IDF.
To conclude, the points above provide some context and nuance on a terrible war. While this is not comprehensive, the main takeaway is to treat everything you hear with nuance, especially from dubious sources. The reality on the ground and the politics around it are extremely complicated — and oftentimes can not be summed up to a catchy slogan.
