Gaza, Hamas, & Palestine

Written in November of 2023

In my opinion, there is not a difference between 9/11 and the Oct 7th attack on Jerusalem. If a terrorist group attacked the United States like Hamas attacked Jerusalem, our response would have been the same. In fact, when comparing the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, there were significantly more civilian deaths from the U.S. Military (approximately 500,000). In many ways we tried to protect civilians, but terrorists know this and actively seek to exploit it.

Let’s get the facts straight; it was because Hamas took control in Gaza in 2006 from the Fatah political Party, that Israel had to create a blockade to the Gaza Strip. Due to Israel security concerns and continued terrorism originating from Gaza, Israel took measures to protect themselves and closed their border to Gaza.

On the topic of civilian casualties – it is a common tactic because terrorists cannot conduct their operations honorably, that they will hide behind innocent civilians or use them as shields. This dishonorable disgusting tactic is well documented in the United States Iraq and Afghanistan war.

While the estimated casualties currently in Gaza are concerning, there were far greater casualties in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the several air strikes conducted in previous administrations. In Brown University Project report (https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/), it estimates at least 244,124 civilian deaths have occurred in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan where the current estimated number of civilian deaths in Gaza are over 29,000.

Understand, there is a real difference between Palestine and Hamas. However, terrorist organizations like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthi Rebels actively indoctrinate their children to hate Jews.

War isn’t pretty. It is gruesome and terrible. We must protect the innocent, but it is near impossible when terrorism exploits our motivation to do it. Terrorists use this knowledge against us – it is just who they are.

I would encourage people to do the research and seek out reputable sources on these issues. While these topics are hard to watch, we must consider wars in this region have been raging for thousands of years.