Attack on the weak civilians and abusing Judaism

Posted on November 23, 2023November 23, 2023 by obligingworldviewer

A day before IDF attacked the Al-Shifa hospital, many Israeli families had gathered outside the Tel Aviv Museum Square fighting back tears as they made impassioned pleas for the release of their loved ones held captive in Gaza for 39 days. As the 40 miles march left the plaza, informally renamed “Hostages Square”, the families chanted the Hebrew word achshav, meaning “now”. For them it got time to react, because the could not anymore stay seated. a general claim was:

“We want the government to bring them home.”

Yuval Haran, who has seven relatives who were taken hostage, told the crowd:

“They don’t have time any more.”

In the evening, the Israeli army carried out a ‘ targeted attack ’ on Al Shifa hospital.
On November 15 the IDF said it was

‘carrying out a precise and targeted operation’

inside Gaza’s largest hospital as Palestinian officials reported seeing soldiers, tanks, and bulldozers inside the complex. It was totally against the International agreements and rules, which wish to protect ordinary civilians during wars, that Israel attacked another refuge for injured people. This time, the soldiers also entered the hospital to kill people, whilst so many people were (as mouse) trapped in that hospital.

Almost 24 hours after an overnight raid it called a

“precise and targeted operation”

against Hamas. The IDF said it had discovered military equipment including grenades, automatic weapons, ammunition and communications technology, confirming what it said was a Hamas command operations centre beneath the hospital. However, such claims could not be confirmed or denied by the international independent press.

Besides ordinary civilians, the army already killed several aid workers during this war, including staff from the Red Cresent or Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières or Doctors Without Borders, the World Health Organisation, as well as several journalists.

No wonder, Israel’s devastating bombings of Gaza and the racist, genocidal language used by Israeli leaders caused Palestinians and Arabs to recoil in shock and anger. With thousands dead, one-half of Gaza City’s dwellings destroyed and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing to an uncertain future in the southern part of the impoverished Strip, many saw the an-Nakbah or the Catastrophe playing out in real-time.

Being a Jehudi myself, who had heard enough about oppression, and now having to flee from the ongoing war in my native region, I can safely sympathise with the many Palestinians, Arabs, but also with the others, such as Jews, Jeshuaists, Christians and residents who live there normally in Gaza.

It also was no wonder that in numerous places one could find Pro-Palestinian demonstrations nationwide, culminating last week in huge gatherings in Washington, London and a.o. Paris, an unprecedented outpouring of support for Palestinians. Significantly, the mobilisations demanding a ceasefire and Palestinian rights have been extraordinarily diverse, including large contingents of young American-, English-, French-, Belgian-, Jews, Arab, Black, Latino, Asian and many other protestors.

Defiling Islamism and Judaism

After the Hamas atrocities of 7 October, during which 1,200 were killed in a violent rampage and over 200, among them children, taken hostage, we rightly saw an outpouring of sympathy for the horrors unleashed in Israel. Rightfully, you could call that first reaction. But when Israel took revenge, we came to see another atrocity not worthy of humankind.

The IDF has ongoing supplies from Washington and does not seem to look out or be careful about whom they are shooting or bombing. By Western leaders, we might see some dismally familiar hypocrisy over whose lives count – all the more so in the context of this decades-long, asymmetric conflict, with Palestinians living under a violent Israeli occupation and a system several human rights groups have described as apartheid.

It seems we have lost the lens of intellectuals in the postwar period, who excavated the connections between racism, colonialism and antisemitism.

The problem with the way Israel is taking revenge for the October 7 Hamas attack, is that many people are spreading false ideas about Judaism in the world. Several bloggers want their readers to believe that Islam is a faith of hatred, whilst others say Judaism teaches hating goyim or non-Jews. Though islām, literally means “surrender,” it does not mean to surrender after attacks but to surrender to God, in peace. Both religions in essence preach ‘Peace‘ (shalom), people living in harmony with each other. The fact is when people would read more of our Kitvei haKodesh or sacred books they would come to know how God is a God of love and wants His followers also to be people of love. Judaism does not teach its followers to hate people who are not Jewish. On the contrary, our faith encourages compassion, justice, and kindness towards all humanity. Tikkun olam has come to refer to the pursuit of social justice or

“the establishment of Godly qualities throughout the world”

based on the idea that

“Jews bear responsibility not only for their own moral, spiritual, and material welfare, but also for the welfare of society at large”. {David Shatz, Chaim Isaac Waxman, Nathan J. Diament Tikkun olam: social responsibility in Jewish thought and law 1997}

By embracing these values, individuals can foster a more inclusive and harmonious world for everyone.

Preceding