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Aharon Gottlieb
Don't lose sight of the bigger picture.

Empathy for the devil

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For me, a Jew that truly values life, my fellow Jews and people in general, it is impossible to feel any empathy for Gazans. I suppose many of my fellow Jews will agree. This sentence rules out the views of any supposed Jews that start sentences by saying, “As a Jew” and end them with “but Israel”.

Gazans have brought this war upon themselves. In 2006, when they elected Hamas to rule the Gaza Strip, they made a very clear choice. They adopted the Hamas Charter, which called for the death of all Jews, not only Israeli Jews – if that is of any comfort for antisemites. They endorsed and espoused this modern Mein Kampf, a Hitlerian view of the world in which Jews should be annihilated and the State of Israel should be eliminated (“from the river to the sea” they chant). This is an ideology that indeed goes back several decades to when the Mufti of Jerusalem sided with Hitler, for example.

Whether the United Nations likes it or not, to live is to make choices: Gazans have elected Hamas to represent them, and this has consequences – just like everything in life. They had a choice to build a wonderful land in Gaza, but they chose terror. According to Forbes magazine, Hamas had a turnover of US$1 billion as of 2014. Given the never-ending generous gifts from several countries, its turnover may have grown exponentially since then. Consider all the good things that could have been achieved with all this money had Hamas not been a cult of death (as per its own Charter).

Those wildly and violently fighting for empathy for Gazans have learned nothing from World War II. Gazans and their cheerleaders use a cleverly conceived propaganda machine that spreads lies and blood libel and perpetrates their self-serving victimhood. This idea is bought all over the world by self-proclaimed philosophers and activists who are nothing but another bunch of Nazi puppets at best. They give Gazans a free pass and do not admit the idea that Gazans should take ownership of the current situation and its root causes. Instead, they celebrate Jews currently mourning, tear down posters of Jewish babies being held in captivity, state that Jews belong in garbage cans, threaten Jewish families, make life extremely hard, if not dangerously impossible, for Jewish students etc. In their view, Jews are not humane, Jews are lesser creatures that should be bashed and destroyed alongside Israel, the only Jewish State on the planet.

It is not surprising that the figures on antisemitism have risen so absurdly in the past few years. It is not surprising either to watch the violent, virulent, hateful nature of the international demonstrations made by those who claim to speak for Gazans. For them peace is a waste of time and disavowing Hamas’s actions is out of question. They want more, indeed. They want human shields to show bodies because this is how their propaganda machine works to delegitimize Israel.

However, responsibility must be taken for this state of affairs. Responsibility must be taken by persons such as António Guterres, the current Secretary-General of the United Nations who just happens to be another tyrant. An engineer who, “in a vacuum”, believes he is an expert in international law. A United Nations Secretary-General of ambiguous morality who had the audacity to whitewash the events of 7 October 2023.

In closing, those crying “proportionality” without having a clue of what this means must be mentioned here too. To Gazans’ luck, proportionality is not a tit-for-tat concept. There are legitimate ends for the Israeli use of force in the current war. An unlawful act such as the massacre of 7 October must result in reprisal and there is obvious necessity to use force. Anyone truly wanting peace knows that Hamas must be dismantled, wiped out, including its bosses now sitting comfortably in Qatar and Turkey. If Gazans want peace, it is up to Gazans to make the right choice this time and help this happen. Then I will feel empathy.

About the Author
Aharon Gottlieb is a lawyer by profession, who has also learned Psychology. He has a special interest in the interwoven areas of national and international security, intelligence, defense and foreign policy. He writes about life in Israel and current events that are relevant to Israel and the Jewish people. In early 2018, Aharon immigrated to Israel, which has added further meaning to his life.
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