The fact that there are still neighbors with “We Stand with Israel” signs up despite the obvious genocide taking place at the hands of the IDF seems commensurate with the current spotlight on bullying in the local schools.
What if it was their children being slaughtered? Seriously, wake up! Or do these supporters really choose the comfort of ignorance? What is more telling, perhaps, is that some of these homes have teens. What a message to send to your children, that brutally murdering civilians is OK. That repeating the same atrocities committed against your own people is acceptable.
Condemning Israel does not mean I, or anyone else, does not support the Jewish community. The fact is, the Israeli army is targeting schools, hospitals, etc., and preventing humanitarian aid to innocent civilians (including children).
Many will blame Hamas for Israel’s genocidal campaign against Palestinians in the (former) Gaza Strip, arguing that Hamas is putting Palestinians’ lives in danger by fighting against Israeli apartheid.
However, this line of argument is an evasion tactic. It unfairly shifts the blame onto the victims, holding them accountable for resisting their occupier, while absolving the oppressor of any responsibility. It is also a dangerous and misleading argument as it treats the mass murder of Palestinians as a normal response. Furthermore, this argument neglects crucial context.
The reality is that Israel’s blockade had for 17 years deprived Gaza’s population not only of all freedoms and rights but also of basic resources essential for human life. Gaza’s humanitarian crisis was considered a ticking time bomb, and the United Nations warned in 2012 that Gaza would be come uninhabitable by 2020 due to the blockade.
It is therefore important to acknowledge that no Palestinian would willingly choose or accept enduring such conditions indefinitely, even though they are aware that resistance comes at a steep price.
Some Zionist talking points also say, “if Hamas just released the hostages, all of this would end.” On Nov. 21, Prime Minister Netanyahu stated clearly that even after the hostages are released, Israel will continue the Gaza genocide: “We are at war, and we will continue the war,” he said. “We will continue until we achieve all our goals.”
Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have made it abundantly clear that the genocide that they are inflicting in Gaza has never been about the hostages. Israel has refused to negotiate the release of hostages on multiple occasions. Hamas had offered on Oct. 9 or 10 to release all the civilian hostages in exchange for the IDF not entering the strip, but the government rejected the offer.
The argument that this is a war, and not a genocide, is false. There is a war taking place, but it is certainly not Gaza’s war, nor is it even Hamas’ war.
Israel, one of the most well-funded militaries in the world with the full backing of the U.S. government, has waged a full-scale war not on Hamas, but on the people of one of the most densely populated places in the world, where half of the population is children.
Israel is depriving civilians (including children) of access to food and water, adequate shelter, medical assitance, clothes, hygiene, and sanitation. They are executing mass expulsion of civilians from their homes and destroying life as a means to impose measures intended to prevent Palestinian births.
It is so very clear what is happening. How can you leave up your “We stand with Israel” signs unless you also “stand” with genocide? Didn’t this very thing happen to your people? Make it make sense, Park City.
Satya Kaur
Jeremy Ranch