There’s a lot of criticism of Israel. And citizens of Israel, like myself, get uncomfortable about admitting it, but there are hard truths we need to finally face up to. And there are some wrongs that only we can right.
When you read this, please be open-minded and feel free to follow up with your own research. All I ask is that you be willing to consider the difficult truths below with an open mind. Agreed?
Since I know you won’t want to believe many of these, I’ve included links to reliable sources below.
Here are eight examples of atrocities perpetrated in Gaza that no one talks about, but should.
1. The Disengagement
In 2005, in an effort to make peace, Israel left the Gaza Strip allowing the Palestinians to have full autonomy there.
But instead of being partners in peace, the citizens elected Hamas as the ruling party whose charter explicitly calls for genocide, saying, “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them.”
2. Dismantling of Israeli Communities in Gaza
Thousands of Israelis were forced from their homes in Gaza in 2005 by the Israeli government. Until then, the Jewish communities in Gaza had made the desert bloom and gave employment to their Palestinian neighbors.
Since then, many of the peaceful Jewish families who were expelled from Gaza then are still dealing with the psychological trauma and financial losses.
3. Freeing the Current Chief of Hamas in Gaza
Yahya Sinwar was in Israeli prison for 22 years for the killing of two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians. While in jail, a brain tumor almost killed him, but Israeli doctors saved his brain and his life and then the Israeli government reduced his sentence and released him back to Gaza.
In a twist of cruel irony, Sinwar is now the current chief of Hamas in Gaza and used his freedom and healed brain to mastermind the Oct 7 massacre, where 1,400+ civilians in Israel were tortured, raped, and murdered in the most horrific ways imaginable.
4. Releasing of Convicted Terrorists
In 2011, Israel released 1,026 terrorists in a prisoner exchange.
Many of those terrorists, such as Yahya Sinwar (see above), are the leading terrorists in Gaza today.
5. Paying for Gaza’s Terror Tunnels
For almost 20 years, Israel has been supplying what was supposed to be humanitarian aid to Gazans in the form of electricity, fuel, and water — much of it FOR FREE — while Hamas has used much of it to build terror tunnels.
The Gazan terrorist militia has been reciprocating the kindness by sending missiles aimed at Israeli schools, hospitals, and civilian centers.
6. Caring for Gazan Civilians More Than the Gazan Government Does
The Gazan military regime runs its terror activities from civilian centers — such as schools, hospitals, and apartment buildings — and has accidentally admitted to using innocent civilians as shields on more than one occasion. The cherry on top? The main headquarters of Hamas terrorism is underneath the largest hospital in Gaza.
Israel makes more effort to protect its enemy’s civilians than its enemies do, which has resulted in the deaths of Israeli soldiers.
7. Saving Terrorists’ Lives
Gazans who were injured while participating in the October 7th slaughter and rape of citizens in Israel received top-notch medical care in Israeli hospitals alongside their victims who they had attacked.
Note: it turns out that this was just a logistical oversight due to the urgency to bring the injured to care quickly, and the terrorists were later transferred to prison medical facilities – but the indignation is still real.
8. Saving the Daughter of Hamas’ Head Leader
In 2021, in an act of peace and goodwill, one of Israel’s top hospitals treated the daughter of Hamas’ head leader, Ismail Haniyeh.
In another cruel irony, at the same time as Haniyeh’s daughter was receiving care in Israel, Gaza shot 4000 missiles at Israelis. Haniyeh knew that Israel is so full of love for humanity that he could count on them to care for his daughter while he killed them, without any consequences.
What This All Really Means
As a result of these eight atrocities perpetrated in Gaza, terrorist groups have grown stronger, humanitarian aid was squandered for the purpose of murdering civilians, and sympathizers of the Gazan terrorists are targeting Jews for abuse worldwide.
While many things are out of the hands of Israeli citizens, there are lessons that we can learn from history to avoid making similar mistakes. I don’t know what the best solution is to the current problems, but two things are for sure:
- History teaches us that we can’t rely on the goodwill of the current Gazan government for anything
- We need to stop allowing ourselves to be taken advantage of by enemies with no intention of goodwill
Thank you for reading this far, and please make sure to keep strong and take care of each other.