On October 7th of last year, the terrorist group Hamas launched an attack against Israeli residents who were attending a music festival. It was an unprovoked attack, killing 1,195 Israelis and foreign nationals, and 251 Israelis and foreigners were captured. The terrorists even raped and tortured women who were in the wrong place at the right time. And to take hostages in the process – no civilized people would ever allow that to happen without repercussions. Of course, Netanyahu and the Israeli army were going to respond; when your existence is threatened, you resort to defending yourself.
Some skeptics said that Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, knew about the radicalization of Hamas and knew an attack was imminent. Because Netanyahu was in legal trouble, he knew a crisis or war would help solidify his power. There were also news reports that Netanyahu often ignored intelligence reports, suggesting such an attack could arise at any moment. Many Israelis are sure that their prime minister would never ignore the intelligence reports – it’s inconceivable that he’d allow such carnage to take place. To allow so many innocent people to get killed by a terrorist organization, including taking over 250 hostages, is inconceivable. Of course, a response by Netanyahu and the Israeli army would be swift and deadly. Regardless of how many innocent civilians might suffer as a result, their focus was eliminating Hamas (if even possible) from Gaza.
According to some news reports after the October massacre, Hamas has said the attack was made in response to the blockade of Gaza, the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and Israel’s disregard for international law. Israelis said that Gaza has received plenty of civilian aid over the last many years, and Hamas has squandered that on military equipment and building intricate tunnels. Why should aid continue for civilians in Gaza if Hamas isn’t interested in allowing that aid to go directly to rebuild the area? Indeed, the Gaza civilians are to blame as they elected Hamas to rule this land. These Palestinians may be in a constant survival mode while living in Gaza, but they need to educate themselves to elect leaders who will make peace with Israel. One might think their radicalization hasn’t brought them much success for many years, so why not make peace with the country in the Middle East with the most advanced and sophisticated military?
Since the start of the Israeli invasion of Gaza, over 44,000 Palestinians have been killed. At least half have been women and children. According to the AP, as of early October ‘24, 720 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Of those killed in this conflict, over 98% were Palestinians, and less than 2% were Israeli soldiers. No wonder Netanyahu has maintained to stay in power; how would most Israelis not support him when he’s disproportionately killing the enemy so effectively?
More and more settlers, including Orthodox Jews, have continued to build settlements in the West Bank. Why should any Arab, Hezbollah, or Hamas leaders complain about the West Bank? As a result of the Six-Day Conflict and War, Israel defeated a coalition of Arab states and captured the West Bank. (The Six-Day War resulted in more than 15,000 Arab fatalities, while Israel suffered fewer than 1,000.) If you lose land due to your aggressive warfare, why shouldn’t the capturer (winner) secure the land and begin to use that land for its people? Now that thousands of Israelis have built homes on the West Bank, isn’t occupying this land enough reason never to forfeit back this land? Especially to the Palestinians! The West Bank is ours, baby!
Some people think that AIPAC (pro-Israel political action committee) has a significant influence on American politics. Would that be a bad thing? Any time you mention “political,” your mind wanders to money, and it’s good that they influence the Pentagon, even if it’s contrary to the principles of the American Republic. Because America is ensuring that the Holy Land never ends up in the hands of those who hate Christianity and Judaism and worships Allah, and it’s not just AIPAC that has a tremendous influence on the American government. Ask any Christian who attends a Sunday service about Israel; they would unquestionably support Israel, regardless of the facts. Indeed, those congregants who may or may not read the bible show absolute support for Israel, and anyone who questions that belief may be banished from their church. When in church, you’re not there to question but to enhance your faith, so anyone deviating from that perspective may not be welcomed back. Besides, American Christians know whose side God is on.
The United States provides roughly 6 billion dollars annually in aid to Israel, much of that in military equipment and bombs; some may weigh approximately the same as the heaviest pumpkin grown (the heaviest pumpkin weighed 2,749 pounds). The Biden administration tried to broker a peace deal with Israel, Hamas, and other Arab nations. Biden was unable to get both military groups to agree on certain conditions. Let’s face it, if Netanyahu disliked anything the Biden administration proposed, he would ignore the U.S. Netanyahu was coy enough to realize that he could do whatever he wanted to secure their borders, Biden be damned. Netanyahu knew his shrewdness could easily manipulate most Presidents, including Biden and Obama. He also knew Biden didn’t have the chutzpah to follow through with his threats. Besides, Biden was considered a very old man with an impending Presidential election, but Biden had limited options. Hasn’t Netanyahu taken a page from Trump’s playbook, saying that when you’re in legal trouble, you do whatever you can to remain in power? That mentality and approach have continued, especially during the Gaza conflict, for the last year, which means his calculus proved correct. Besides, no American President could ever side with the Palestinians; they don’t have the political clout as AIPAC. In addition, astute Americans may look at the crisis in Europe, where many Arab immigrants from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria haven’t assimilated well in Europe over these last 15 years, where the crime rate has risen in countries such as Sweden and Germany after this immigration and refugee situation occurred. If they can’t assimilate in Europe, they’ll do the same in America.
Moshe Yaalon, former Israeli military chief of staff, has recently denounced Netanyahu’s government action in Gaza. According to the NY Times, Yaalon said, “Israel was being pulled in the direction of building settlements in Gaza, a notion that far-right politicians support in Mr. Netanyahu’s government.” Ridiculous. Yaalon is probably just disgruntled, and he suggesting that the government of Israel is trying to remove all Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. If that’s true, then how is that different from radical Palestinians refusing to negotiate with Israel until all the land is given back to them? The facts here suggest that the Israeli government is merely protecting itself from a murderous terrorist group that carried out the mass slaughter of innocent Israelis. No other issues or facts should come into play.
During 2024, many campus protests were supporting the Palestinian cause. There were other pro-Palestinian activists from Rome to London and Washington claiming the killing of innocent women and children in Gaza was an act of genocide. Many of these protestors chanted, “From the river to the sea,” which meant that these protestors wanted Palestinians to regain most of the land that’s either occupied or where Israelis have settled for many years. Some in the corporate media wondered out loud why these protesters didn’t complain when innocent Israelis were killed on October 7, 2023. Why the hypocrisy? A vast majority of cable news personalities called the protestors antisemites, unconditionally supporting Israel in its action to eliminate Hamas from Gaza. According to Fox News, anyone who protested against the Israeli government was labeled as antisemitic or anti-Israel. And why shouldn’t this be the case? And why not? That’s the “Holy Land” we’re referring to. Other protestors merely claimed that they wanted to end the bloodshed in Gaza, but that may have been a made-up story. Don’t the young protestors hate Israel and Zionism? Regardless of what the protestors were protesting, it’s a fool’s errand to think they’d affect public opinion in America, especially against such a strong AIPAC and Christian Nationalism lobby on our federal government. Don't they realize that the Jews are God's "Chosen People?" Perhaps they need to study harder at the university.
And look at what occurred in Amsterdam against some Israel international football (soccer) supporters; they were chased and beaten up near canals and other streets – just wanting to support their team and country. How can that exist in the Netherlands, a peace-loving nation that decries antisemitism? One female Jewish-American columnist said the international football fight was like “Kristallnacht,” the night of broken glass, something that the Nazis did to German Jews living in Germany in 1938. (Hey, that might be the best exaggeration of the year, but if she loses her writing ability, she could always go into marketing and sales.)
Why do many American Liberals hate Israel?
I never understood the hate either. I don’t think the people who hate really know why they hate, these followers are just following the direction of their supreme leaders.