I grew up in Africa, in a small city, in a small forgotten country, that was ravaged for years by a guerrilla war. There wasn’t anybody, neither black nor white, who wasn’t affected directly by the war. There were daily communiques, and all too often, the names of the dead were names that I knew. After spending some time in New York, I have now made my home in another (even smaller) war-ravaged country, Israel.
I know what war is. It is ugly and cruel. Sometimes, what looks the cruelest, though, can be the kindest.
Before today, I’m not sure that I can remember a war, even a historical one, where one side willingly, or ever, gave supplies to the other, but I do stand to be corrected.
Israeli supplies entering Gaza. X screen grab.
Imagine a scenario where President Roosevelt puts a gun against Winston Churchill’s head and says to him, “Winston, old chap, you need to give those nasty, Nazi Germans humanitarian aid. You know, food, fuel, and other essentials that are in short supply over there.” Churchill knows that the fuel will be used against him and the food will strengthen the Nazis, so he says, “But Mr. President, that will weaken our position and strengthen theirs.”
Roosevelt answers, “People are starving, and suffering, and more German babies are dying than British ones. It’s all your fault, so you better give them the aid, or better still, just stop the war.”
Ridiculous – right? Especially ridiculous considering that Germany was the aggressor!
This is exactly what is happening now, though, with the West forcing Israel to provide Gaza with “food, fuel, and other essentials that are in short supply over there.” This is an insane practice.
I know that I’m not alone when I say that it has prolonged this Gaza war and caused the loss of many thousands more lives than necessary. In the words of Bob Marley, “a hungry mob is an angry mob.” Hungry, Hamas-oppressed Gazans are much more likely to stand up to their oppressors than sated ones. Now, there, while there is food in Gaza, it is expensive, it is controlled by Hamas, and they use the money and food to finance the war, and the fuel to support it.
Why would someone want to supply his enemies (or their supporters) with essentials, particularly those enemies who are calling for genocide?
The Hamas Charter calls for the eradication of the Jews and the destruction of Israel. They have stated it plainly, many times. The Hamas chant of “from the river to the sea,” chanted now and often, in American streets, by American kids, is a denial of the Israeli right to exist. Yet, it is Israel that is accused of genocide.
Under Jewish rule, Jerusalem has been besieged several times, many centuries before Islam existed. The concept of siege is as old as war itself; it is a very successful strategy. A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortified area to force its surrender. Israel should have been allowed to besiege Gaza.
The West is guilty of projecting Western ideals onto a population that overwhelmingly rejects such notions. The West has failed to hear that the Palestinians are not interested in a “two-state solution.” Palestinians wish for one state, Judenrein und Judenfrei. Neither Hamas nor Fatah has ever wavered from this position; they shout it from the rooftops, but the West will neither see nor hear.
The West’s approach to the Middle East has always been wrong. Westerners have been selectively listening for what they expect to hear...from another Westerner. The West is again failing to see that Gaza civilians are just pawns in Hamas’ game, that Hamas doesn’t care, and that it is Hamas, not Israel, that should be stopped.
Instead, Israel is being forced to give “aid” to her enemies, thereby strengthening them. The “starving” human shields seem to work very well for Hamas, who play them like pawns.
The West seems to have forgotten that what Hamas did on October 7, and proudly broadcast live, was as grotesque and dehumanizing as anything can be. It has also forgotten that Hamas can stop it, the bombing, the hunger, all of it, completely, at any time. All that Hamas needs to do is release the hostages and leave Gaza. It is a war they should not realistically be able to win, and the world should long ago have called for Hamas to surrender and release the hostages, thereby cutting the war short and saving many thousands of lives.
Instead, the world calls on Israel to show restraint and feed the enemy. When I was younger, kids knew that there were certain other kids that you never picked on, if you wanted to eat the lunch your mother packed. Hamas knows that picking a fight with Israel isn’t a bright idea, but they have been buoyed by their experience and
continue to attack, time after time. Time after time, Hamas is saved by the bleeding heart of the world, which refuses to place the blame for Gazan suffering at the door of Hamas. As the tide of “recognition” for the imaginary nation of Gaza rises, it cannot be overstated how well the policy of human shields works for Hamas. The recent “starvation” campaign is just an extension of the same.
Israel’s responses to Hamas attacks are called “disproportionate.” Hamas’s use of human shields and repeated attacks on Israel demonstrate that it actually invites civilian casualties. Those who die are called martyrs, and Gazan parents are proud of how many martyrs they have produced. Islam worships death, viewing death as the gateway to heaven and, for men, 72 virgins! Some may remember the plastic keys to heaven that Ayatollah Khomenei gave to Iranian soldiers during the Iran-Iraq war.
There is no negotiated or strategic response to fanatics, whose highest ambition is to die for their cause. There is only a logical response, which is to grant them their wishes. Otherwise, as long as they are fed, the way will never end. When the West became “civilized,” deciding that turning the other cheek was a better strategy, it forgot what religious zeal is. Islam has not.
The world has long had a double standard when it comes to Israel, paying lip service to the trope that “Israel has the right to defend itself,” while at the same time, applying the utmost pressure to ensure that she stops doing so. However, such statements are worded, no Western nation (other than America under Donald Trump, right now) has ever applied pressure to Hamas. That is why, since 1973, Israel has not been allowed to win a war....
Israel should be allowed to win its war with Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. The world really knows who needs to be stopped, but it has made the conscience decision, whether from cowardice or principle, to side with the Hamas death cult. Even now, Macron, Starmer, and Carney, are rushing to recognize a “State of Palestine,” with Germany (Germany!!) following behind, playing right into Hamas’ hands.
Donald Trump is the only Western leader who has done any original thinking about the Middle East. He should be pressuring the world to pressure Hamas, something they should have done a long time ago.
The world should pressure Hamas to
Release All the Hostages
Surrender
End the War
Instead, in a complete inversion of morality, decency, and rationality, the world pressures Israel.