Why Israel is not committing war crimes in Gaza

First, a basic fact that anti-Zionist myths keep denying. Israel left the Gaza Strip over a decade ago. It’s now under full Chamas occupation.

Israel is specifically targeting the terrorist regime that at every armed conflict is responsible for two sets of war crimes:

They target Israel’s civil population.
They use innocent Gazans (including whole neighborhoods, schools, hospitals, and even their own families) as human shields.

Collateral damage is the term for when it can’t be helped when targeting the enemy that innocent bystanders or civil infrastructure are hurt. Israel is most careful, more than any army has ever been, to avoid hurting civilians, especially children. This is extra needed because Chamas never built shelters for the population or other defenses. They also built their terrorist quarters in city centers, under hospitals, and in kindergartens. While the top leaders of Chamas seem terrified to die, they don’t seem to understand that average Gazans (or Israelis) want to live too. (Much like the mass murderer who, without publicly regretting his actions, appeals against the death penalty because life is sacred…) For Chamas, every corps is an asset in the war for sympathy from the international public opinion.

We can prove easily that Israel is so cautious. In the small Strip (365 km2), live 2 million people. The IDF threw thousands of precision bombs, but the Dictators declared that 200+ people died. That is one per 10,000 people. If you want to believe these dictators’ numbers. But, natural death in this population is 140 per week! But, Israel estimates that at least hundreds of terrorists died in the dozens of kilometers of underground bunker tunnels it flattened. BTW: Building these bunkers cost $500 (!) per meter. How much housing for the Gazans could have been built with this money?!

Proportionality means to only use as much force as is necessary to thwart future attacks. It does not mean to havoc equal damage. The latter idea would leave Chamas free to fire rockets since we have air defense and most people have shelters close by, so hardly anyone would get hurt. (Meanwhile, our air defense and offense rockets cost a fortune, and their rockets each hardly anything. They don’t care about precision. Some 20% of the rockets they now fire land within the Gaza Strip! Let’s blame Israel.)

Mistakes are made. Mistakes are not a crime per se, unless in the case of negligence. Just like not every mistake by a physician is a crime. She’s only culpable if she should have done better. In wars, always many innocents die. That’s one reason why to prefer an unjust peace over a just war.

You must use your own brain in judging this situation since the national and the international press both have many highly anti-Zionist workers, especially at the top. Most reporters are fairly honest but find their work changed before publication to fit the biases of their bosses. Besides using common sense, acquaint yourself with the characteristics of Antisemitism.

The news that US President Biden is pressuring Israel is a game, totally unbelievable. He’s such a good ally. Netanyahu probably has asked him to ‘apply pressure’ in public so that the former can show us all that it takes him to withstand that. He and Gantz withstood Chamas, but Bibi the US.

Remember that for some, the above information is utterly unnecessary. Some people know what a holy People the Jews are or how democratic the Jewish State. They don’t need to scrutinize us more than we scrutinize ourselves. While for others, the above is also unnecessary because the hostilities are just a welcome opportunity to let loose their dislike of Jews.

Be extra beware of the pictures of children in front of destroyed terrorist structures and long reporting about the suffering in Gaza but not in Israel. Also, terrorists are removed from the reports when ‘rockets fall in Israel’ (No, they are short by terrorists) and ‘tensions flare’ (No: they are stoked by terrorists and naive youths go to wrack havoc). And false moral equivalence: Both sides suffer. We suffer less. At least, we’re not fighting a dirty war, not an unjust war, and we’re not indoctrinated, consumed, and motivated by hatred — we’re only defending ourselves against genocide. We prefer not to be kindly commemorated by the world but rather: live.

For those who claim that there is no military solution to Gaza: Yes there is.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1