When terrorists attacked the United States on 9/11 by flying airplanes into the Twin Towers, they killed around 3,000 civilians. In response, the U.S. killed the terrorists, including Osama bin Laden. It took time, but it was done by following the rules of war and by carefully avoiding the killing of innocent civilians.
In October of 2023, Hamas, a Sunni Islamist political and militant organization currently governing the Gaza Strip of the Palestinian territories headquartered in Gaza City, attacked Israel by killing around 1300 civilians and taking about 200 hostages. Israel, the US, and the EU designate Hamas as a terrorist organization, similar to the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda led by Osama bin Laden which was responsible for 9/11.
In response to Hamas’ attack on Israel, Israel responded by
- calling Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and giving them 10 minutes to evacuate to avoid being bombed
- dropping 6000 bombs on dense residential buildings in Gaza
- cutting off electricity, food, water, and fuel to residents of Gaza
- blocking the border so that Gaza civilians can’t evacuate
- preventing humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip until the Israeli hostages are released
So far, the result of Israel’s response attack was the death of over 1000 civilians, a big percentage of which were women and children who had nothing to do with Hamas’ attack on Israel. (Update: As of Nov 3, over 9000 Gaza civilians have been killed by Israel).
While it is understandable and completely reasonable for Israel to defend itself and to retaliate when attacked, you’ll notice a big difference in how Israel and the US deal with “terrorists”. Unlike the US, which carefully avoided civilian casualties when going after Al-Qaeda, Israel appears to follow the rule of “an eye for an eye” rather than the international rules of war. The fact that Israel bombed so many buildings while people were sleeping and gave them only 10 minutes to leave is completely outrageous. Israel’s argument was that they were targeting members of Hamas, but for every member of Hamas killed, Israel probably killed 30 or so civilians. To make matters worse, Israel has blocked humanitarian aid from reaching those civilians as if Israel wants the civilians to suffer and die. In the video below, the president of Israel said that the entirety of Gaza, including civilians, was responsible for Hamas attacking Israel. He argues that civilians should have stopped Hamas. His mindset justifies the killing of civilians, including at least 1,000 children. Sadly, when Israel makes these outrageous statements, the international community, including the U.S., says and does nothing. It seems as though Israel is using this opportunity to ethnically cleanse Gaza of Palestinians under the guise of “self-defense”.
Conclusion
The Israeli government has clearly violated the rules of war and its actions are just as bad as the terrorist group Hamas, which they blame for starting the war.
Land Dispute
Everyone knows that the Palestinians have been living in Palestine for a long time. Since Jews in Europe were hated by others, treated unfairly, and even killed, they wanted a land of their own. So, they argued that they should go create their own state in Palestine for 2 reasons:
- they believe that God said it was their land according to the Jewish bible
- their ancestors lived there 2000 years ago
Both of these reasons are a joke. If someone came knocking on your door and said that they were going to take all or half of your house or your backyard for the reasons above, no one in their right mind, including a reputable court of law, would agree to it. Unfortunately, with the help of the British, Jews were able to just take land from the Palestinians and create the nation of Israel.
What Hamas Should Have Done
What Hamas did on Oct 7 was clearly inexcusable. There’s no justification for the killing of innocent civilians. It’s no wonder why some countries label Hamas a terrorist organization. When violence is used to achieve a goal, it’s hard to get support from the international community. What Hamas should have done is like what the Jews did when they took Palestinian land in the first place. The Jews would not have been successful without the help of the British. Likewise, Palestinians will not be successful without powerful and influential allies. Those allies could be neighboring states like Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc. When you have that type of support, war can be avoided. Israel would be under pressure to negotiate and Israel’s allies like the US would support talks over war. If Israel refuses to talk, then the Palestinian alliance could announce that they will peacefully reclaim the land that the Israelis took from them under their “right of return“. Upon exercising their “right of return, if the Israelis fight the Palestinians and people are killed, then the Israelis will be at fault. At that point, the alliance can give an ultimatum to Israel that if Israel doesn’t participate in peace talks to resolve land and governance disputes, then the alliance will retaliate for the people Israel killed. Israel would be surrounded by an alliance of countries supporting Palestine, and Israel would know that they would lose. Under these circumstances, the US and the West would find it difficult to justify supporting a war against an alliance of Arab states.
One-state or Two-state Solution
Some people support a one-state solution where both Jews and Palestinians share the same land. Others support a two-state solution like there sort of is now. I think a one-state solution is necessary to force the Jews and Palestinians to get along. It may take some time, but eventually they will get along. In the US, African Americans and Whites didn’t get along, but eventually they did. To be fair, the government in a one-state solution would have to comprise 50% Jews and 50% Palestinians.
As for the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, they need to put aside their religious differences (Sunni vs Shia) while supporting Palestine.