Over the past three weeks I've been hearing a common refrain from fellow Jews committed to social justice: It's lonely. Dara Horn said it well: "There is a reason so many Jews cannot stop shaking right now."
Normally, those of us active in social justice work make all kinds of friends, including allies who are partners in supporting our work for immigrants, unhoused individuals, victims of racism, and many others.
However, in the aftermath of the terror attacks in Israel that left more than 1,400 murdered and more than 230 people held hostage, led to the evacuation of more than 130,000 civilians, and called the entire country into war, our progressive neighbors have most frequently been, at best, silent, or worse, actively working against the cause of the Jewish people. Some are even blaming Jews for the massacre that fell upon them. Amid a massive global spike in antisemitism, we're witnessing people purporting to be on the side of justice sometimes labeling Hamas's attacks as legitimate or noble resistance. We even regularly hear irresponsible rhetoric claiming Israel is engaged in genocide. David Brooks recently wrote:
A group of highly educated American progressives cheered on Hamas as anti-colonialist freedom fighters even though Hamas is a theocratic, genocidal terrorist force that oppresses LGBTQ people and revels in the massacres of innocents. These campus activists showed little compassion for Israeli men and women who were murdered at a music festival because they were perceived as "settlers" and hence worthy of extermination. Many progressives called for an immediate cease-fire, denying Israel the right to defend itself, which is enshrined in international law—as if Nigeria should have declared a cease-fire the day after Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls in 2014.
The worst non-violent pro-Palestine protests are ill-informed and malicious. But they often make a demand that can sound reasonable: a ceasefire. Those calling for one make a strong point: we must acknowledge the suffering of civilians in Gaza. They've had to flee their homes, and many have died or have been injured. In the eyes of those calling for a ceasefire, the damage already caused by Israel in response to Hamas' initial attack is unjustified and perhaps even amounts to war crimes, for in attacking Gaza, Israel acts not to defend itself, they claim, but to seek revenge.
Those who make these arguments appear unwilling to take a hard look at Hamas, its ideology, and the atrocities it has perpetrated. If they were to do so, they would recognize that a ceasefire could only lead to greater peace if it were able to bring about a diplomatic process that would end in Hamas' moderation or removal from power. However, Hamas' long history of brutality, culminating in the events that took place on Oct. 7, prove that no such a thing is possible and that a ceasefire would achieve little more than providing Hamas a chance to rearm.
Having been deeply invested in the Israel-Palestine conflict as an educator and bridge builder for decades, I've come to reluctantly accept that we cannot impose a peace mentality upon a war reality. Israel could make every concession possible for Hamas, and Hamas would still seek our people's destruction. In fact, the 1988 revision of the Hamas charter could not be more clear on this matter: "The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him."
Instead of passively hoping for peace, we must rely on Israel's strict moral guidelines for how it is to engage in war and recognize that Israel's military actions in Gaza are a war against Hamas and not a war against the Palestinian people. Unlike other countries, Israel stands apart in the way it encourages civilians to evacuate an area they need to invade as a part of efforts to eliminate terrorist targets and Hamas infrastructure. There could not be a starker contrast with this than the way Hamas indiscriminately slaughtered scores upon scores of civilians.
For those of us who still live with the intergenerational trauma of the Holocaust and countless crusades and pogroms preceding it, we literally and figuratively cannot sleep at night feeling that perhaps it's all happening again. We're grateful that the Biden administration understands that a country cannot sit by silently while these things happen—it must protect its citizens from continued violence.
It might seem counterintuitive that I, who consider myself a proud activist for social justice, would support Israel's strategic determination to continue a war that will surely bring even more death and destruction for both Palestinians and Israelis. Shouldn't I be working toward the vision put forth in the book of Isaiah, "Nation shall not take up sword against nation; they shall never again know war?" If I dedicate so much of my work and life to foster children, asylum seekers, and refugees, for racial justice, women's rights, LGBTQ rights, humanitarian relief for the unsheltered and other related causes, am I now a hypocrite to side with the demonized state of Israel over the honored terrorists deemed to be agents of legitimate resistance? It is important to remember, of course, that Gaza was not occupied. The people of Gaza were given a chance to build a beautiful Mediterranean paradise and instead of feeding the population and building the society, the Hamas terror group used their funds toward weapons of destruction.
Hamas' brutal violence, refusal to release hundreds of hostages, and its continued calling for the destruction of the Jewish state, have put Israel in an untenable situation that must not be allowed to continue. Their tactics of hiding behind innocent Palestinians to avoid accountability only further reveals their maliciousness. Nothing would bring me greater satisfaction than to advocate for an end to this war, but at the same time, I have come to recognize that until the Messiah comes, war remains a sad reality we must grapple with and strive to wage justly when called upon to do so.
Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz is the author of 25 books on Jewish Ethics.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
