No discussion of Hamas's war crimes is complete without discussing Israel's own war crimes and international law violations against Palestinians. But the author recalls a more hopeful time.
I am constantly caught in an emotional dilemma between feelings of horror about the Holocaust and that destruction of so many Jewish and other lives, and the horror for the Palestian Arabs under decades of an illegal occupation which destroyed 400+ villages and a way of life they and their ancestors had enjoyed for thousands of years. Reading ‘All That Remains’ a book showing the bulldozed homes and the census figures of that lost world shocked me by its proof of what was taken from the Palestinian Arabs. I don’t condone Hamas’s rage but I do understand that patience waiting for an equitable solution can run out.
Thank you for this. I too was influenced by Timothy Snyder’s essay and appreciated the other links.
A la Snyder, it is questionable at best to react as your enemy has predicted/caused you to. I would like to ‘Imagine’ Israel stopping its attacks in Gaza, providing food, water, and electricity and asking the Gazan people to repudiate Hamas, return the hostages. Were that impossible thing happen, peace might someday be possible. Unfortunately, Israel, with the support of the U.S. and others, will commit war crimes in vengeance and only make eventual peace less possible. I empathise and share the Israeli pain and horror but killing hundreds (thousands?) more will not undo the atrocities. So sad and frustrating...
I am constantly caught in an emotional dilemma between feelings of horror about the Holocaust and that destruction of so many Jewish and other lives, and the horror for the Palestian Arabs under decades of an illegal occupation which destroyed 400+ villages and a way of life they and their ancestors had enjoyed for thousands of years. Reading ‘All That Remains’ a book showing the bulldozed homes and the census figures of that lost world shocked me by its proof of what was taken from the Palestinian Arabs. I don’t condone Hamas’s rage but I do understand that patience waiting for an equitable solution can run out.
Thank you for this. I too was influenced by Timothy Snyder’s essay and appreciated the other links.
A la Snyder, it is questionable at best to react as your enemy has predicted/caused you to. I would like to ‘Imagine’ Israel stopping its attacks in Gaza, providing food, water, and electricity and asking the Gazan people to repudiate Hamas, return the hostages. Were that impossible thing happen, peace might someday be possible. Unfortunately, Israel, with the support of the U.S. and others, will commit war crimes in vengeance and only make eventual peace less possible. I empathise and share the Israeli pain and horror but killing hundreds (thousands?) more will not undo the atrocities. So sad and frustrating...