Allie Bernstein, '27
Recently, you may have heard of the attacks on Israel by a Palestinian terrorist group called Hamas. The media has shown horrifying videos and pictures of victims being taken hostage, bombings, and dead bodies on the streets. While you may know the overview of this conflict between Israel and Palestine, there is a deep history when it comes to Hamas that I believe is essential to understand when it comes to being knowledgeable about these attacks overall.
After the Holocaust where over six million Jewish people were murdered, many survivors did not see a safe or stable life for themselves going forward in Europe. Due to this, on May 14th, 1948, Israel became a homeland where being Jewish was no longer considered a minority. The effect of this was that many people, now considered Palistinians, became displaced because of the large numbers of survivors moving to what was previously a country kept all to themselves. Those displaced people had to move to Palestine, where eventually Hamas would be formed.
Hamas was established in 1987 primarily by Abdel Aziz Al-Rantisi. Abdel contributed to the strong belief in this terrorist group that death is a good thing when you die for their cause. When discussing the assassination of his close friend and mentor, he said, “It’s death, whether by killing or by cancer. Nothing will change. If by Apache or by cardiac arrest, I prefer Apache.” Hamas shares the common belief with other terrorist groups that they should both want to kill to benefit their community and die for their beliefs.
The goal of Hamas is to obliterate Israel, because they believe that land is rightfully theirs. Hamas has a history of attacking Israel many times in the past, but the most recent motivation for this war was due to Israel making progress with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is a very prominent country in the Middle East, due to their extensive and valuable oil supply. Israel and Saudi Arabia did not have a previous alliance, but recently started to begin communication and trade. Hamas did not want Israel to grow stronger through this alliance, so they decided to start another attack.
So far, over 1,400 innocent Israelis have been murdered. That is the equivalent to over 35,000 people being murdered by one group in the United States. Children and elderly have been taken hostage, babies have been decapitated, pregnant women shot in the stomach, and more horrific acts of violence have taken place. While you may not believe there is a lot you personally can do, simply being educated on this topic allows you to be safe from misinformation. This situation may be extremely hard to understand and cope with, but both the Jewish and Israel community have had to fight for their right to safety many times before. Do the best you can to morally support them and denounce any anti-semetic comments you may hear. I highly recommend taking time to research this topic on your own, especially from the links attached below.