Both sides are in the wrong.
Last Saturday, the terrorist organization Hamas attacked Israeli citizens partying at a music festival.
The attack was brutal and barbaric as they kidnapped, raped, beat, and killed innocent people who were going about their day. Hamas shot missiles into the town and charged into the territory with military weapons and armour as they massacred at least 260 civilians.
Since that initial raid, the Israeli government, who received support from first-world leaders such as Canada’s Justin Trudeau and the U.S.’s Joe Biden, has responded with retaliation.
After hearing this news, I was unsure what to think. I didn’t know who or what to support and how.
I know that what Hamas did was wrong. It was evil, in fact.
But at the same time, the Israeli administration has not been doing good either. They oppress the Palestinian people by, as Amnesty International says, “massive seizures of Palestinian land and property, unlawful killings, forcible transfer, drastic movement restrictions, and the denial of nationality and citizenship to Palestinians.”
That’s why when I saw people post images of the Israeli flag on social media and wrote that they support Israel in the caption, I didn’t know how to feel about it.
I felt bad for the Israeli civilians who had to experience this horrific act. But at the same time, I don’t support the decisions and actions of the Israeli government.
I was puzzled.
And then I came across two videos a few days later -one by Kyle Kulinsky and one by David Doel- that explained and cleared things up for me.
Here’s what Kyle Kulinsky from Secular Talk said that formed my view of the war.
He said it would be fine if the Israeli government retaliated by taking out the perpetrators. But that’s not what they are doing. They are attacking everyone -including innocent people- in the Gaza Strip.
“After the Hamas attack where these innocent civilians were targeted, every reasonable person is going to condemn that and they’re going to support justice. What is justice? Justice is finding the perpetrators who did the crimes, who did the terrorism and bringing them to justice. That’s the correct answer. Instead, what we’re getting is a response to collective punishment from Hamas to all Israelis, Israel is saying ‘We’re going to do collective punishment of all Palestinians, particularly Palestinians in Gaza.’ It’s ugly.”
He also added that we can’t be lazy with our thinking in regard to this situation because it causes more harm.
“The thing that drives me the craziest is the sloppy thinking… ‘cause you can’t look at a situation where Israel responds to civilians getting slaughtered by them slaughtering civilians and act like they had it coming. No, they didn’t. Not all Palestinians are guilty of the crimes of Hamas and they’re being treated like they are.”
Additionally, David Doel from The Rational National explained how this conflict can be solved.
He said that there is only one solution to prevent random attacks from happening in the future, and it is to end the occupation.
“Until Palestinians are able to have the same freedoms as Israelis do, then random acts of violence are going to continue happening. Not because it’s okay for them to happen, not because it’s excusable, but because that is the result of occupation. When you occupy… what, you expect people to just sit there happily? Anyone supporting occupation, you are in support of violence against Israelis. That’s the reality.”
So after meditating on these ideas, here’s what I’ve come to:
I stand with the innocent civilians of Israel. I also stand with the innocent Palestinian people.
I, however, do not support the war (even more so after reading Bernie Sanders’ statement) as it is not just targeting members of Hamas -it’s also harming innocent men, women, and children.
And I continue to stand against the Israeli occupation and the heinous acts of Hamas.