By Rolene Marks
Enough. Forgive me if I sound angry this morning but I am. I have watched these last two weeks as a moral equivalence has been drawn between a democratic, sovereign state and an entity recognised internationally as terrorists. I have watched accusations of genocide being leveled at our army who has embarked on a military campaign with pinpoint precision, where warnings are given to civilians to head to safety instead of Hamas who glory in the death of their civilians because it gets YOUR sympathy.
This same Hamas in whose charter (https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp) is ingrained the destruction of Israel and the genocide of the Jews and then the Christians. Yes, Christians as well. Israel is your front line of defense! What is happening to the civilians of Gaza is a humanitarian tragedy but it is not a genocide. Harsh as these words may be, genocide is what happened in Syria, including to thousands of Palestinians who were gassed by Assad. And the world remained silent. Genocide is what is happening to Uighur Muslims in concentration camps in China. And the world remains silent. There are no swimsuit models, instagram stars and celebrities racking up social justice credentials for them. The conflict between Israel and her neighbours is decades long and very complex. Understand it before you opine! If you don’t understand, ask us who work in the fields of analysis and politics who do.
In the wake of this current escalation, the conflicts have been imported into the streets of London, Los Angeles, Johannesburg and everywhere in between. 11-year-old accuse Jewish kids of “genocide”, Jewish women are threatened with rape, Jewish men beaten in the streets. We asked ourselves how could the Holocaust have happened? Why did educated, cultured people commit genocide? The fuel that fans the flames of hatred we are witnessing in real time. In the streets. On social media. And by silence. If this offends you, you are welcome to de-friend me. I am a proud Jew, a proud Israeli and a proud Zionist. I wish nothing but peace and dignity for my Palestinian neighbours but they will not attain that under Hamas. My heart hurts for the many displaced. The civilians killed including those when rockets have fallen short of our borders and into Gaza. As reported yesterday a family of 8 was wiped out by Hamas’s rocket. Hamas fired mortars at aid convoys. Ask yourself, is this who you want to support in the name of freeing Palestine? Truth is a casualty of this conflict. The facts themselves are under siege. Israel’s fight is disproportionate – because it is not a fight just for us, it is a fight for anyone who values freedom, democracy and humanity. It is a fight for YOU! You don’t have to choose between supporting Israelis or Palestinians. If you are going to choose sides, choose humanity.
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I believe we have past the times of liberalism, nationalism, communism,socialism etc. In this final act of the history of mankind we are left with only individualism. Every individual of every sex race religion or colour is going to face the choice of right or wrong. Good or evil. This excludes goverments for Hashem does not grant them freedom of choice. They are programed to respond in a predestined way. The same as Pharo was. It is now up to each individual to make their choice. There is only right or wrong. Nothing in between until Moshiach.