Between Gaza and Newtown

Many people are rightfully concerned, alarmed and furious about the death toll in Gaza. One side claims the IDF shoots indiscriminately on civilian population while the other side runs statistical analysis which shows this is clearly not the case. But while people are busy with numbers and figures they seem to have forgotten one simple truth.

In every society it is mostly the innocent who pay the price for immoral choices made by that society. During WW2, over one million of German deaths were of civilians. Some of them may have even opposed the Nazis, yet still paid with their lives when The Allies attacked.

How many innocent people, including children die in the US every year in mass shootings? Sure, the direct blame falls on the shooter, but there is no doubt the society as a whole is also responsible. Be it the political failure to pass better laws for gun control; failure to provide better care and assistance for disturbed individuals; or failure to better educate children and have less violence in their life. Like it or not, at the end of the day innocent children die in the US because the right to hold and bear arms is sacred. Anyone who opposes and obstructs any kind of progress in the matter does it in the name of freedom.

Hamas also operates in the name of freedom. It’s a democratically elected political movement which shapes every aspect of the Palestinian society in Gaza. Hamas is in charge of infrastructure, welfare and education but the problem is the organization is committed to one thing only – the sacred duty of fighting Israel. In Gaza, same as in the US, innocent people die under the pretense of freedom due to collective social decisions made over time.

Hamas didn’t grow out of thin air. It is a movement of the people, by the people and for the people. Hamas leaders and militants all have parents, brothers, sisters and friends. The Palestinian society is now paying the price for spawning such a ruthless organization which is committed to death. The people of Gaza might be individually innocent but they sure are collectively guilty. The high death toll in Gaza is the direct result of immoral decisions of a society which worships death, just as the low death toll in Israel is the direct result of moral decisions of a society which treasures life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl6kTfWCZRw

Everyone keeps talking about how Hamas could have used all that concrete and other construction supplies to build schools and hospitals instead of tunnels. Did it ever occur to them how easier it would have been for Hamas to build bomb shelters? I mean, they were already digging and they must have had a clue of what was coming their way, so why not build a few shelters while they are at it? If not for the entire civilian population then at least build one or two for Hamas top brass instead of having them hiding in a hospital.

The truth is Hamas doesn’t care about civilian casualties. In fact it is against their interest to prevent it. Hamas is Gaza’s top 1%, but their loopholes are not tax cuts and offshore accounts. No, their loophole are dead bodies and humanitarian crises because that’s what keeps the money flowing. That is what this war is all about. Freedom? Think again…