It’s Time to Face the Truths of This War
It’s almost impossible to know what’s true anymore. Media reporting is selective and misleading. TikTok and social media bots perpetuate false information. University professors tailor curriculums to fit their own agendas.
The Gaza-Israel war, specifically, is riddled with alarming misinformation, but this is what is true. The few living hostages are emaciated, sick, and abused—and realistically don’t have much time left to live. Gaza is facing a humanitarian crisis of scarce medicine, housing, and food.
Israel is now at a crucial crossroads. Rightly or wrongly, Hamas’s fault or not, Israel must find a way to step up and embrace the Jewish values of tikkun olam—repair the world.
Each of these tragic truths is undisputed. Hamas took over two hundred hostages from Israel nearly two years ago and killed many of these hostages in captivity. Hamas uses Gazans as human shields and hides weapons in hospitals and schools. Very few hostages remain alive. The Israeli military has reduced Gaza to a pile of rubble. Thousands of Gazans, including children, have died in this war. Humanitarian aid is not reaching the Gazans who need it most.
To be sure, Hamas is to blame for all of the above tragedies. Had Hamas not invaded Israel on October 7, we wouldn’t be where we are today.
But Israel isn’t blameless either. It’s unclear why this deadly war hasn’t ended yet. The goal of defeating Hamas is a red herring. At this point, it is safe to assume that Israel has made no friends in Gaza, and that many Gazans are out for blood irrespective of whether they are affiliated with Hamas. Military action isn’t bringing the hostages home because Hamas has a directive for its captors to kill the hostages when the IDF gets close. So what is Israel still fighting for?
That Hamas is to blame and that Israel is not blameless are two truths that can coexist. Yet this war has become rigidly binary. One can advocate for “Free Palestine” or “Bring Them Home”—but not both. Humanitarian agencies advocating for a ceasefire don’t use their vast platforms to advocate for the release of the hostages. Self-professed humanitarian celebrities sail flotillas to bring awareness and aid to Gazans, but not the hostages. The Israeli government blames Hamas for stealing aid, but dodges the fact that its military actions have led to scarce necessities.
When did our society become so militantly black and white and fail to acknowledge the nuanced shades of gray?
Black or white or gray or green, one glaring truth exists: Jews, Israel, and their allies can no longer discount the legacy that this war will leave behind. It’s undeniable that history will not be forgiving. Israel may be winning the war on the ground, but it’s gravely losing the PR war. With each day that the war continues, the rallying cries about genocide and famine get louder and louder.
This narrative of the genocide victims becoming genocidal (as offensive and untrue as it is) is one that Israel cannot ignore. Jews worldwide are suffering the consequences of this attribution with skyrocketing antisemitism. If humanitarian aid is being stolen by Hamas, then Israel must try harder to ensure that aid gets into the right hands. It will take generations to undo this growing narrative of Israel as the relentless aggressor if we do not course-correct—urgently.
Let history remember us the way we want to be remembered. It’s time for the State of Israel to find a way to end this war, to bring the hostages home, and to end the suffering on both sides.
