A Tale of Two Evils

Photo by Mohammed Ibrahim on Unsplash

“Which side are you on?”

That’s the question I get asked about the Israel-Gaza conflict on social media, by friends, family, and my students.

I tell them, “Honestly, neither!”

Like many of you, I watched the news about the October 7 attack with horror at its premeditated brutality, 1400 deaths, kidnappings, rape, and murder … of civilians and tourists. Then, the subsequent Israelis’ bombing of Gaza revealed a disproportionate and indiscriminate response resulting in now close to 30, 000 deaths, famine, destruction of schools and hospitals. I feel revulsion at both the actions of Hamas and at the Israelis’ counter-offensive.

This is not both-side-ism, I’m not trying to level the moral playing field, as if to say, “They are both as bad as each other.” What I’m saying is that I honestly believe that no party in this conflict is defensible in their actions and ethos because … deep breath … both parties are committed to the annihilation of the other.

Yet it’s hard to speak to people about this at times because people on both sides live in alternative factual universes. Some people can’t bring themselves to acknowledge the Hamas atrocities just as others can’t bring themselves to acknowledge the Israelis brutality against Gazans. Or, if they do, they have a way to rationalize it and explain it away. It’s near impossible to morally reason with people who believe one side can do no wrong and the other side has no rights. It’s tribalism, in-group, and living in an isolated news bubble.

“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” is a genocidal mantra, part of the Hamas manifesto (which does not include the aims and ambitions of all Palestinians including those in the Westbank under the Palestinian Authority administration). At the same time, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli politicians have made explicit reference to the Amalakites from 1 Samuel 15 to describe their mission, which includes the verse , “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys” (1 Sam 15:3).

I’m not a pacifist, I believe that people and nations are entitled to self-defense (e.g. Ukraine). But if we are looking at the biblical ethics for the conduct of warfare, the overriding principle is not “Show them no mercy” (Deut 7:2) but instead, “Do not repay evil for evil” (Rom 12:17). War is a terrible thing, no matter the cause, but there are international standards, laws, and expectations of how warfare is to be conducted.

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Hamas is a terrorist organization. While somebody might be sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, it would be hard to be sympathetic to Hamas’ aims (annihilating the Jews in Israel and adjacent territories), their methods (terrorism), and their governance of Gaza (Islamic authoritarianism).

At the same time, Netanyahu’s Likud party and coalition members include elements who are, to be frank, xenophobic, not just against Palestinians and Arabs, but also against Christians, that is Western Christians too. I’ve seen anti-Christian graffiti and vandalism in Israel with my own eyes!

Sadly, I believe that Netanyahu is going to deliberately extend the duration of the conflict for two reasons: (1) He knows that the October 7 attack revealed a massive intelligence failure of his government and his government will be defeated at the next election; and (2) His strongest backers will be Zionist and Ultra-Orthodox elements if he manages to cleanse Gaza of Palestinians and create new Israelis settlements in Gaza. Call me cynical, but Netanyahu’s objectives are not freeing the hostages or even destroying Hamas, but with maintaining power. That requires extending the war for as long as possible and compelling the Gazans to leave or die where they are.

While this might sound crazy, when it comes to war, there are rules. These are the Laws of Armed Conflict which come out of various Genevan conventions about the conduct of warfare.

Just because Hamas does not abide by them does not mean that the Israelis are free to disregard them as well.

One important aspect of warfare is the ability to maintain not only a combat superiority over one’s enemies but also a moral superiority.

One may fight harder than one’s adversary, but the way we fight our adversary, without killing civilians, without rape, without torture, without destroying civil infrastructure, proves that our values are better than theirs. It is one thing to take a life, the life of your adversary, but it’s another thing to lose your humanity in the process.

War is about securing strategic objectives, it is not about attempting to match or exceed the brutality of one’s adversary.

Israel has the right to defend itself and its people against Hamas, even if that includes the destruction of Hamas and its ability to conduct operations against Israel. But Israel does not have a right to cleanse Gaza of the Palestinians in the process as if the end justifies the means.

Okay, I know this is a touchy topic, I’ve got some friends who are big pro-Israel supporters, and others who are passionate about the Palestinian cause. So, with courtesy and collegiality, feel free to share your comments.