If you hate all Gazans, Hamas has won the war
Recently, I’ve entered into moments of despair. Despair that Hamas has simply won the war, and we might as well give up.
One moment was with a family member. He told me he has a lot of Arab friends. And he knows they would kill him if they got the chance.
Another was with a good friend. She told me there are no good people in Gaza. Not one. They all hate us and want to kill us.
So, well done, Hamas. You’ve done it.
These are regular Israelis who, up until the 7th of October, felt peace was a possibility. Probably. Perhaps. A small chance?
And now, they don’t.
Well done to all the “regular” Gazans who danced in the streets celebrating on October 7th.
Well done to all the “regular” Gazans who looted the houses in the kibbutzim.
Well done to all the “regular” Gazans who took drugs and burned the houses, slaughtered, burnt and raped Jews wherever they went.
And well done to Hamas, who managed, led and executed this all so beautifully.
Now, apparently, there are no partners for peace left in Gaza. All that’s left is a trail of hatred burning in this country.
I try not to feel like this all of the time. I try not to feel like this even some of the time. But it’s hard. It’s hard when I hear the same lines, constantly: Why did you come to live in this country? Why don’t you go to live in Gaza?
I have to remind myself constantly why I am a peace activist. I have to remind myself of what I know is the truth.
Last week, I and around 40 other peace activists from over 50 peace organizations (oh thank God, there are other people who believe peace is possible) went to Ramallah to meet the president of the Palestinian Authority, Abu Mazen. He announced to the room, to all of us, to the journalists, that he had been waiting for this meeting, and declared absolutely that any Israeli who wants to make peace is his brother.
But, somebody asked me afterwards, did he actually recognize Israel as a Jewish state?
Oh my God, after making such a declaration, does it really matter?
Somebody else wrote to me that, as a Holocaust denier, we cannot trust a word he says. She failed to include the fact that he has apologized for this time after time, and more than 70 years have passed since he wrote his thesis at Moscow University in the old Soviet Union where his research material would have been full of antisemitism. (The thesis does not deny the Holocaust, but questions the number of victims.)
At 90 years old, he spoke clearly, fluently, without notes and without hesitation. He was strong and he was sincere.
He said he wants peace. He has been invited to Egypt to talk about building a Palestinian state. He told us he will be going to Germany and Italy to talk about a Palestinian state.
But how do we know he’s telling the truth?
We don’t.
And the Palestinians don’t know we are, either.
But the only way to build trust is by trusting in the first place.
October 7th destroyed our trust. Apparently, now we can’t trust any Arabs in Gaza. Even if they protest and die for peace. Even if Hamas kill them because they are on our side. It’s too late. Apparently, all of Gaza are now Hamas. Apparently, everyone in Gaza came out on October 7th to kill us. Apparently, there is no hope left.
Well done, my friends. You’ve just played into the hands of Hamas. That’s exactly what they want.
They want us to hate.
So keep hating, my friends. Then there will never be peace and Hamas can continue to terrorize and slaughter the citizens of Gaza. We will never agree to a Palestinian state, even if the leader of the Palestinian Authority makes a “Sadat-like” declaration of peace. Hamas will continue its terrorist activity, and we will be able to keep hating all Palestinians forever.
Hurray!
Forgive me for the mite of sarcasm above, but how about we try? How about we say to ourselves: the 2.1 million people who live in Gaza cannot all be bad. Even if they have all been educated to hate us, they cannot all be bad. The newborn babies, for example, who have not been educated at all yet, they, at least, cannot be bad.
There we are. We have something to work with. Change the education. Educate people to respect the other. Like we Israelis are supposed to do. Educate them with the fact all Jews don’t hate all Arabs, because we don’t, do we? At least, not all of us.
Consider this: there are good and bad people everywhere. From that premise we might be able to trust the good people. We might actually get somewhere.
And when we have Arab partners promising peace, let’s try to believe them, shall we?
