December 20, 2024
How to respond to criticisms about Israel
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How can you respond to criticisms about Israel while home for the holidays? Here are a few myths you may hear discussed and how to respond: 
Myth #1: “Israel’s war in Gaza is too deadly to be justified.”
Hamas knows that the West and Israel care deeply about human life. Therefore, Hamas’ war strategy has been to maximize Palestinian deaths to create international pressure against Israel.
Hamas built miles of tunnels beneath their urban centers to intentionally hide their combatants and weapons behind civilians. This strategy exposes Palestinians to Israel’s retaliations to Hamas’ attacks from Gaza. The awful reality of Gaza’s unprecedented and complex battlefield can not mitigate the necessity to demilitarize Hamas.
Videos from Gaza show Palestinians cursing Hamas for bringing about their suffering. Each innocent life lost in war is a tragedy, and in Gaza, death must be blamed on Hamas, not Israel. [Watch from CBN News]
Myth #2: “Hamas’ October 7th Massacre was resistance to Israeli occupation.”
Before October 7th, Israel had not occupied Gaza since 2005. Then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon withdrew all Israeli military and civil presence from the Strip despite Israel’s victory over the territory from Egypt in the 1967 Six Day War. Gaza’s internal affairs were managed by Hamas, who won elections in 2006 and subsequently dissolved democratic electoral processes.
Hamas does not engage in ‘armed resistance.’ They engage in terrorism. They are Islamist imperialists with a vision not just to exterminate Zionists but to unite all Muslims under an imperialist theocracy in the region. An Islamist society would be governed under Sharia law.
Hamas does not want a democratic nation-state for Palestinians. They are an extremist terror group that seeks to kill Jews, Christians, and all who oppose their vision.
Myth #3: “Israel is illegitimate because it’s a colonialist project.”
Israel can not be colonialist for one primary reason: Jews are indigenous to the land of Judea, whereas Palestinians, who are Arabs, originate from Arabia. Despite eras of persecution and expulsion, there has been a continuous Jewish presence in the land of Israel since at least the mid-10th c. BC.
In the 19th century, Jews began legally immigrating to their homeland and lawfully purchasing land, most of which was undesirable for farming. The modern state of Israel was formed at the collapse of the British Empire post-WWII, similar to many nations during the post-war years, such as Pakistan.
Myth #4: “Israel suppresses Palestinian nationalism.”
The Palestinian nationalist movement, which rose simultaneously to Jewish immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries, at its inception, rejected the existence of a Jewish state and two-state solutions.
Palestinians have the right to a nation in what has been their home for centuries. The majority of Israelis agree, though these numbers have shifted post-October 7th.
However, the Palestinian national movement, as demonstrated by October 7th, is largely contingent upon the destruction of the state of Israel.
At Philos, we affirm Near Eastern voices who support pluralistic solutions and work with partners across ideologies and ethnicities to advocate for peace.
Myth #5: “The U.S. sends too much aid to Israel.”
In its “America First” policy framework, isolationism fails to account for the fact that American strength abroad is a necessary deterrence to ensure American safety at home.
The growing isolationist movement in America is a reaction to the weak foreign policy of the current administration and should not influence overall support for essential allies such as Israel.
Peace through strength abroad ensures America’s safety and interest against global threats like China.
Advocating for peace through strength does not mean funding endless wars abroad. Peace through strength means leveraging key allies to fight shared security threats.
Israel is on the front lines of dismantling Iran’s destabilizing power in the region. The U.S. should empower Israel to fight terrorists whose stated agenda is to destroy not just Israel but the United States and the West.