No Peace in the Holy Land this Christmas.

There is little joy in the Holy Land this holiday season. Christmas celebrations have been cancelled across most of Israel, the West Bank and Jordan. The tree in Manager Square will not be decorated, and there will be no Christmas lights in Bethlehem this year. Christmas markets have been cancelled, and traditional public festivities and displays will be absent.
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At a time of great suffering in Gaza and Israel, church leaders from across the region have wisely agreed to forego any outward displays of holiday celebrations. In solidarity with the suffering wrought by the Israel-Hamas war, Holy Land churches will focus on religious services and the spiritual meaning of Christmas. In our country, Jewish celebrations of Hanukkah have been tempered not only by the war, but by hate and antisemitism.

Israel-Hamas War: Armed conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors is unfortunately nothing new. But the ferocity and level of human suffering ignited on October 7th has been staggering, and the world is paying attention. The latest conflict erupted when Hamas, the militant group labeled as a terrorist group by the United States, launched a surprise attack on southern Israel from the Palestinian territory of Gaza. Approximately 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed, and more than two hundred hostages were taken by Hamas. The brutality of the attack was unprecedented, and credible claims of sexual assault and torture by Hamas fighters have come to light. 
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Israeli leaders have called the October 7th attack their 9/11 and Pearl Harbor, and have pledged to destroy Hamas. Israel Defense Forces wasted little time ramping up its military operations, and have been pummeling the Gaza Strip from the air and ground for the past two months.  The images of shear devastation coming out of Gaza have flooded news casts and social media across the world. To date, over 19,000 Palestinians have been killed and many more have been wounded. Nearly all of the two million inhabitants of Gaza have been impacted by the war, and most have been displaced from their homes. The Israelis have suffered hundreds of casualties and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes near the border with Gaza. 

​In this David versus Goliath conflict, Hamas has no chance of beating Israel militarily. But that was never its intent in this latest conflict. Hamas’ ultimate goal is to destroy the state of Israel by killing every Jew or driving them out of the region. In order to accomplish that, Hamas needs to rally other Arab and Muslim nations against Israel, and to bring worldwide condemnation on Israel for its brutality against the Palestinian people.

Hamas is imbedded with the Palestinian people and use them as pawns against Israel. They care nothing about the people of Gaza who are being used as human shields and are viewed as expendable in order to achieve Hamas’ political goals. Hamas is not interested in solving the conflict between Israel and Palestine by agreeing to a separate state for Palestine (the two-state solution).  To them Israel is illegitimate, and the only state that should exist is Palestine.

​There is no question, that Hamas is winning the public relations war. The daily images of death and destruction coming out of Gaza are heart wrenching. Even the most hardened supporters of Israel cannot help but feel compassion for the Palestinian people. In recent days, the United States government, one of Israel’s staunchest supporters, has called on Israel to minimize civilian causalities. Under intense pressure at home, President Biden has called on Israel to be more targeted in its bombing, but has stopped short of calling for a cease-fire. Israeli officials report that the current “high intensity” military operations will continue for another few weeks, followed by several months of targeted bombing aimed at Hamas leadership targets.  

​Reactions Within the United States: The reactions to the war have been varied and widespread. From the halls of Congress, to college campuses and city squares, protests have erupted for and against Israel’s response to the attack by Hamas. As the deaths in Gaza have mounted, calls for a cease-fire have grown louder, and support for Israel has waned.

Pro-Palestinian rallies on college campuses have blurred the lines between free speech and hate speech, making Jewish students feel threatened and unwelcome. In recent weeks three college presidents were brought before Congress to justify their policies which allowed some protests to turn into rants against the Jewish people and death to Israel.

Antisemitism is clearly on the rise in the United Sates and across the world. It is unclear if this is a result of the war in Gaza, or if the war has just made it more visible. The Israel-Hamas war has provoked hatred on both sides. Violence against Palestinians in this country has also increased since the outbreak of the war. The killing of a 6-year-old boy of Palestinian descent in Illinois is but one tragic example.

War protests are not new on our college campuses or public squares. Free speech and peaceful protests are protected by our constitution. But expressions of hate and the threats of violence against another person or group are not protected speech. Hate speech should be condemned in the strongest possible way, regardless of which side of the conflict you are on.   ​

Further Reflections: Hamas started the brutal war against Israel on October 7, 2023, and has vowed to repeat its attacks on Israel “again and again”, until the country is completely destroyed, claiming that “it has no place in our land”. Hamas presents a clear and present danger to the Jewish people, and will never accept the existence of the state of Israel. Israel has the right and obligation to protect its people from terrorist attacks, and is therefore justified in its aggressive pursuit of rooting out and destroying Hamas.

Although I agree with Israel’s right to self-defense, I don’t agree with the ferocity of its response to Hamas, which has left Gaza in rubble and has shattered nearly two million Palestinian lives. Punishing the guilty should never come at the expense of victimizing the innocent. The excessive use of force in Gaza only fosters more hatred for the Jews and produces more militants opposed to Israel. Israel should have listened to the United States, which has a lot of experience in overreacting to terrorist attacks.     
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Condemning Hamas for its attack on Israel isn’t taking a pro-Israel stance in the conflict, and it doesn’t represent an anti-Palestinian stance either. It is taking a stand against hatred and violence. Standing in solidarity with the people suffering in Gaza, doesn’t have to mean that you are anti-Jewish or anti-Israel. It is morally just and right to show compassion for the innocent people caught in the middle of a deadly war. 

​The lights in Bethlehem will be dim this Christmas, but don’t let that dim our hopes for peace in this troubled land. We should follow the lead of church leaders in the Holy Land and reject hate. We should all embrace the true meaning of the season: peace, love and hope. 

​Postscript: The history of the conflict between Jews and Palestinians is long and complex. There has been a lot written on the subject, and I will leave it to the historians. But if you are interested in learning more, here is a link to a brief synopsis of the recent history of the region and the origins of the conflict. 

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Thanks,
Armchair American