Let’s look at the facts of the war in Gaza

By Rabbi Jacqueline “Jackie” Brodsky

Since time immemorial, people — including entire countries — have been telling anti-Semitic lies about Jews and Israel. These have included everything from medieval blood libels to the early 20th century’s “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” to Nazi propaganda to the 3-D’s of anti-Semitism as described by former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky: Delegitimization, Demonization and Double standards, and more.

To this day, anti-Semitism has continued to grow and fester, thanks in part to the billions of influence dollars from Qatar and other jihadist resources going into our (American) colleges, schools, businesses and government institutions. This has also spread thanks to the multitude of propaganda in place of factual reporting in so much of our media, social and otherwise.

What we see today as a result of this madness, plus the terrible misfortune of Israel finding itself now in a seven, front two-year war, is more of the same: horrible libels and slander. In the interest of sanity and in the hopes of finding a way out of this horrible war, let’s have a look at the facts:

As many seem to have forgotten or denied, the current war in Gaza was started by Hamas terrorists breaking a ceasefire over 700 days ago on Oct.7, 2023, when the worst attack on the Jews since the Holocaust took place. About 3,000 terrorists and 3,000 Gazan civilians murdered, raped, beheaded or burnt 1,200 people in Israel, and 251 people were taken into captivity, dead or alive, from toddlers to elders.

The facts are that Hamas rerouted billions of dollars given to the Gaza Strip meant for social and infrastructure development to create instead a militarized fortress of over 450 miles of terror tunnels and a vast amount of weaponry to create a lethal force. Hamas continues to imprison, starve and torture the remaining 50 or so hostages, continues to attack Israel with rockets and missiles, continues to steal aid meant for the Palestinian people in order to finance their war, and they are even now attempting to prevent the Gazans from leaving this tragic situation.

Additionally, Hamas embeds the people in their military outposts (formerly hospitals, mosques and homes), thereby using them as human shields. They also feed the world with false statistics on casualties and starvation, fanning international outrage about the war. It is very clear: This war was instigated by and is being sickly perpetuated by Hamas at the expense of the Palestinian people and the people of Israel.

I’d like to pose some important questions facing us with this war that I would like people to ask themselves. The answers may help us all come to a better understanding of the situation:       :

• Can Israel let Hamas continue to exist in Gaza? Do they have any choice other than removing it from within their border?
• What is the actual history of this conflict? Are you aware of all of the opportunities Israel and the world gave the Palestinian people for statehood and peace, starting in 1948? And what was the violent response to these offers?
• Did you know that before Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas fired over 31,000 rockets at civilian communities in Israel (and 19,000 since then) in multiple skirmishes, and that Israel’s response was very restrained, in hopes that deterrence, diplomacy and allowing international aid would defuse the conflict?
• Can you support a society like Gaza, where there are no decent basic human rights for free speech or freedom of religion? And where there exists a severe lack of freedom, and sometimes worse, for women and LGBTQ+ people?
• What sources are you using for information regarding this conflict? Are you aware of the theology of those sources?

At the end of the day, instead of being determined to cast Jews and Israel as the villains, please instead see who the real culprits are and support Israel in demanding that Hamas surrender, return all of the hostages, and liberate the Palestinian people from tyranny and destruction and the Jewish state from the threat of extinction.

On another note closer to home: Kudos and blessings to the Ashland Food Co-op for declining to issue a boycott against Israel which would have involved them in the massive campaign of misinformation and slander against the Jewish people and the one Jewish nation in the world (56 countries have Muslim majorities).

 May we all see what we are praying for: an end to this war speedily and soon and peace for all people!

More information on myths and facts about the Israel-Hamas War can be found here.

Rabbi Jacqueline “Jackie” Brodsky is a resident of Ashland.