November 21, 2024

The Pope's misled call to investigate Israel's "genocide"

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by The Philos Project

Pope Francis’ recent statement about investigating Israel’s “genocide” against Palestinians continues to mislead and cause moral confusion over Israel’s war in Gaza.

This, in turn, contributes to more hatred and violence—against Jews and non-Jews alike.

Here are a few facts that all Christians should know about the conflict:

  • Gaza has had a 2% population increase (43,000 humans) since October 2023. Populations that suffer genocide typically decrease. The Palestinian population in the region was 1.4 million in 1948; it’s 5.5 million today. The Jewish population in the world was 16.6 million in 1939; it’s 15.7 million today.
  • More than a hundred hostages, including women and children, are still held captive by Hamas in Gaza.
  • Israel’s military includes Jewish conscripts but also Muslim, Christian, and Druze volunteers; Hamas is only Islamists.
  • Hamas, by their own admission, killed Jews, Muslims, and Christians on October 7 and admitted to maximizing civilian casualties.
  • The Gaza Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas, has repeatedly exaggerated its figures and blamed the Israeli Defense Force for attacks for which the IDF was later cleared. Hamas lies.

Hamas is the only party to the war in Gaza guilty of genocidal conduct since last October. The genocide slur is a contemporary variant of the blood libel. Medieval popes understood this (e.g., see Pope Gregory X’s letter Against the Blood Libel).

It is concerning for the leader of the Catholic Church to make statements that could be perceived as morally equating Israel and Hamas, especially when such comparisons risk oversimplifying a deeply complex and tragic situation.

Given the Church’s responsibility to foster peace and understanding, these remarks could be seen as lacking clarity and prudence.

We invite the Holy Father, the Curia, and all Catholics who stand against antisemitism to join our movement, the Coalition of Catholics Against Antisemitism [SIGN HERE].

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