Moral and Mental Clarity on Israel and Hamas

Israel and moral equivalence:

I would like to think that most folks would understand that there is no moral equivalency between Israel and those seeking to destroy it. Yet many seem confused on this matter. As an example, I posted a meme the other day on the social media which warned Westerners about the real aims of Hamas and militant Islam. It attracted a number of comments, one of which was the following:

“It’s possible both these things are true:
1. Hamas are monsters
2. Israel should not have carte blanche to do whatever they want to whomever they want for as long as they want on the pretext of #1″

I am not meaning to pick on any one individual here, but it seemed to me that this was not such a helpful remark. As it stands, it appears to be just another case of moral equivalence. It implies this: ‘Yeah, Hamas is evil, but so too is Israel. A pox on both their houses.’

Before proceeding, let me say that if this was not his intention, then he really should have rephrased point 2. He could have said something like: ‘It would be wrong for Israel to think that anything goes in dealing with Hamas.’ But the way he worded things, he did not need to state his conclusion – it was implied. Indeed, we can set it out as a logical syllogism, with two premises and a conclusion:

1. Hamas is evil.
2. Israel demands carte blanche to do whatever they want to stop Hamas.
3. Therefore, both are evil.

If you know anything about formal logic, this is a valid argument (the conclusion necessarily follows from the premises), but it is not a sound argument because one or more of the premises is not true. The first premise is certainly true, but the second premise clearly is not. It seeks to imply that this in fact IS what Israel is doing. But it isn’t.

This can be shown in so many ways and on so many levels. If Israel and the IDF really believed that they could do whatever they wanted, Hamas would have been wiped out long ago. This war would NOT be dragging on till now, some 600 days after the October 7 massacre. It is exactly because Israel is seeking to be so restrained, to abide by the international rules of warfare, and is seeking to fight a moral fight against an immoral Hamas that this conflict keeps dragging on.

Consider some obvious truths. The IDF warns civilians before it strikes an area. It does what it can to minimise civilian casualties. There is of course always collateral damage in any conflict. In this case Hamas deliberately seeks to get as much collateral damage as it can, while Israel seeks to avoid it.

When you have Hamas deliberately setting up military posts, command and control structures, and munitions storage facilities in schools, in hospitals and in crowded urban areas, no matter how careful Israel seeks to be in a targeted operation, there of course will be civilians wounded or killed. Hamas loves the PR media results that come about with such deaths – real or imagined.

If Hamas had not launched their demonic attack on October 7, there would be no civilian casualties – at least from Israel. Sure, the filthy rich Hamas leadership, living the good life, daily inflicts suffering and death on its own people. But blame them, not Israel.

If Hamas had released the hostages and laid down their weapons, the war would end, and no more civilian deaths would be happening. But Hamas refuses to do either one. Yet the left and the Israel-haters want to blame the Jews. Go figure. On this matter alone there is zero moral equivalence whatsoever.

But there is so much more to consider. Israel has offered one ceasefire after another – every single one of them has been refused by Hamas. Indeed, over the decades Israel has repeatedly offered land for peace. They kept giving up portions of land, but kept getting no peace, but continued warfare and attacks.

There is NO moral equivalence here.

How many times have the Muslim and Arab nations surrounding Israel launched an attack? Those pushing the moral equivalence nonsense likely are not able – or willing – to answer a question like that. So let me do it for them. Since 1948 there have been at least 15 major attacks on Israel. Here are some of them:

1948 – Arab-Israeli war (War of Independence)
1956 – Sinai war
1967 – Six-Day war
1973 – Yom Kippur war
1982 – Lebanon war
2006 – Lebanon war
2008 – Gaza war
2014 – Gaza war
2023–present – Hamas war

There is NO moral equivalence here.

If Israel was really doing “whatever they want” to stop Hamas, they would NOT have delivered the following humanitarian aid into Gaza since the start of the war:

-Over 1,350,000 tons of food on some 64,000 trucks
-Over 46,000 tons of medical supplies on some 3,200 trucks
-Over 60,000 tons of water on some 3,000 trucks
-Over 169,000 tons of shelter equipment on some 13,000 trucks

There is NO moral equivalence here.

If Israel was doing anything and everything to stop Hamas, it would be doing the same things Hamas routinely does to people: mutilate them, slaughter them, rape them, behead them, burn them alive, force parents to watch their babies and children being murdered, force men to watch their wives being raped, imprison them in horrific underground hell holes, and so on. 

There is NO moral equivalence here.

One worrying thing is this: while most of the Jew-haters, Israel-haters and antisemites are on the left, not all of them are. Some who claim to be conservatives and Christians can also fall into this never-ending criticism of Israel. Some will even seek to make excuses for Islam, Hamas and jihad.

There can be various reasons why this is the case. Maybe they simply swallow the mainstream media narrative about Israel and the Middle East. Maybe they have theological reasons they might present to back their views up. Now it is true that Christians can have legitimate debates about Israel from a theological and eschatological perspective.

Some will hold to a replacement or fulfillment position. Others believe there is indeed a future role for Israel to play in God’s purposes.  And these discussions are worth having. See more on this here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2023/10/20/on-replacement-theology-an-introduction/

But my concern is that for SOME of these folks, their theological stance can be used to cover a multitude of sins. That is, their position CAN be used to in fact cover up some latent antisemitism. I have no doubt that this in part plays a role for some of these folks, even if not for most of them.

However, one thing I do find to be true of most of these folks pushing the moral equivalence line is this: I seem to hardly ever hear them say these three very important things:

-Israel has a fundamental right to exist like every other country.
-Israel has a fundamental right to defend itself like every other country.
-What was done by Hamas on October 7 was unequivocally and categorically a demonic evil that can never be defended, justified, or have excuses made for it.

To say all this does not for a moment mean that I or other defenders of Israel believe that everything that it and the IDF do are faultless and above criticism. Of course they can get some things wrong. Of course they can stray from directions we might like them to take. Of course they can at times overreact to things, and so on.

But let me put it this way: It is so very easy for Western critics, sitting in the comfort of their lounge chairs, to forever criticise and attack Israel, not knowing a thing about what it is like to live there. They are NOT forced to go through what the Israelis have to. They do not have to daily fear for their lives, whether from incoming rockets, terror attacks, or what have you.

Let me remind you of the numbers. There are 16 million Jews in the world, with around half of them living in Israel. That tiny nation – the size of New Jersey –  is surrounded by over 20 Arab and Muslim states, most of them quite hostile to the beleaguered nation. Many nations and groups there have declared their intention to wipe out Israel, kill every Jew in the country, and then kill every Jew in the world.

Ever since 1948 Israel has had to basically fend for itself. And in the meantime, so much of the rest of the world has declared its contempt and antipathy for the nation. The UN has condemned Israel more than any other nation. Not even North Korea or Communist China get as regularly condemned as Israel does.

And worse still, the Islamic goal of wiping out Israel does not end with the Jews. They keep telling us their clear intent: “After Saturday comes Sunday.” Once political Islam has disposed of all the Jews, then the Christians will be next.

 Of interest, the post that I put up on the social media that attracted the comment that I have been discussing here had said this:

“I really pity all Westerners who consider Hamas ‘freedom fighters’ without fully understanding radical Islam. I pity them because Islamists would do to them the same atrocities that Hamas did on Oct 7 if they had the power. Take it from someone who knows the sources very well: you are next.” Loay al-Shareef – Muslim Arab Peace Activist

Yet too many folks pushing the moral equivalence nonsense have no clue what is really going on. Too many think that if Israel just laid down its arms, everything would be peachy. They are living in a world of delusion. Three quotes from leaders in Israel are worth featuring here in this regard:

“Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.” -Golda Meir, Israel’s first female prime minister, during a 1957 speech

“I think that this is the first war in history that on the morrow the victors sued for peace and the vanquished called for unconditional surrender.” -Abba Eban, then Israel’s Foreign Minister, after Israel’s decisive victory over Arab armies in the 1967 Six Day War

“The truth is that if Israel were to put down its arms there would be no more Israel. If the Arabs were to put down their arms there would be no more war.” -Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking in 2006

And to wrap all this up, a quote from the new book by Douglas Murray (On Democracies and Death Cults) which I have used a few times already is worth repeating again:

[Israeli soldiers] fought for life. For the survival of their families, their nation, and their people. Even the most secular of them knew that the lifestyle most of us take for granted cannot be taken so. They know you won’t have the ability to party in Tel Aviv, fall in love, grow a family, or live a meaningful life unless they are willing to fight for it. “Choose life” is one of the most important commandments of the Jewish people. It is also one of the fundamental values of the West. They, and all of us, can win in spite of the enemy loving death. Because there is nothing wrong with loving life so much. It is the basis on which civilization can win.

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