Name the Evil That Won’t End the War
I advocate for peace, not as a slogan, but as a demand. I push for dialogue and ceasefires across divides. The other side refuses to reciprocate. Today I still plead for both sides to stop the killing. I often feel alone in that plea. Hamas calls for ceasefires but glorifies the regime that never pursued one. It holds the power to choose peace and continues to choose violence.
Evyatar David’s hostage video reveals Hamas’s genocidal ambitions in their rawest form. But these ambitions began long before October 7. In 2007, HBO’s To Die in Jerusalem documented a suicide bombing in a Jerusalem supermarket. Two mothers grieved their daughters across irreconcilable moral lines. Avigail Levy screamed that violence solves nothing after her daughter Rachel died in the blast. Um Samir hailed her daughter Ayat, who carried out the attack, as a martyr.
When I watched Evyatar’s video, that same sting returned. Hamas could release its captives and stop the slaughter. Instead, it glorifies every scream. Gaza faces starvation, disease, and displacement. Children go hungry. Families bury loved ones in shattered homes. Hamas rules with guns and fear. It shapes Gaza’s reality and does so with cruelty. The world must name that truth as loudly as it condemns Israel.
The Israeli left called for ceasefires and political solutions long before October 7. It warned that despair and dehumanization lead to violence. That voice has faded because no power on the other side calls for peace. Hamas answers grief with weapons. It films hostages at their lowest. It circulates footage of massacres, rapes, and mutilations. It spreads that material across social media. Every tear becomes a weapon. Every wound becomes a spectacle.
Many say not all Palestinians support Hamas. Many say not every Gazan celebrated October 7. These facts matter, but they do not break Hamas’s control. They do not release hostages or feed civilians. They do not save lives. Exclusive condemnation of Israel hides the real threat. Hamas holds power and chooses terror. It keeps the keys to calm and refuses to use them.
Hamas could have ended the war on October 8. It still holds that option. It controls life and death in Gaza. It chooses massacre. Israel did not start this war. Hamas did. The world must name that evil with the same force it applies to Israel.
