Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Hamas Responsible


The headline said, “Hamas is Responsible for Gaza’s Hardship.” [i]

After I picked myself up from the floor, (Ignorance, especially when it is chosen and announced with pride), always overwhelms me.

Hamas responsible?  It was not Hamas that drove out more than 700,000 Palestinians in 1948, both Muslim and Christian, taking their homes and livelihoods. Many of them wound up as penniless refugees in Gaza. Israel did that.

And it was not Hamas that murdered Count Folke Bernadotte, the United Nations special envoy who mediated a “truce” not to Israel’s liking. Israel did that, too. And it was not Hamas that pulled off a sneak attack in 1967 against Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and the U.S in attacking the USS Liberty, an unarmed reconnaissance ship, killing 34 American sailors. And it was not Hamas that drove nearly two million Palestinians into the Gaza with limited access to water, food and medical supplies. Israel did that.

Hamas did not bombard Gaza to smithereens in December 2008-09, and again in 2012, and again in 2014, destroying homes, sanitation plants, hospitals and infrastructure.

And it is not Hamas who is shooting into unarmed crowds of Israeli soldiers. Since March 30, when the people locked up in Gaza started demonstrating against their occupation and abuse, sixty Palestinians have been killed and over 2,700 wounded by Israeli fire. Not one Israeli soldier has received a so much as scratch in this so called “conflict.”

When I was a child, my mother asked, “Who broke the window?”  I answered, “Billy did.”  I threw a rock at his head and he ducked.  If that makes sense to you, then I guess you can say, Hamas is responsible for Gaza’s hardship.

Thomas Are
May 15, 2018



[i] Letters to the editor, Atlanta-Journal-Constitution, Sunday, May 13, 2018.

2 comments:

  1. It is the casuistic excuse you used in your childhood is now the benchmark of integrity of Israel's stooges. If only Billy had not ducked!

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  2. I was reading up on the Ten Commandments last night. I live in a part of GA where we see lots of yards reminding us of God's reqirements for the Jewish people to follow. It does not say that putting on a uniform makes it OK to kill your neighbor. Thou not shall not murder applies here, doesn't it? Has the State of Israel abandoned God's laws?

    Did Christians change this commandment? Was the commandment about killing or murdering?

    I would appreciate your views on this basic rule.

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