10 Questions about Gaza

Following the October 7 memorial services, we have received many questions about the Gaza-Israel War. We realize not everyone has much time to look into it so here’s a five-minute Q&A. We’ve provided additional references in case something piques your interest.

1. Why did the Gazans attack?

Because at its root, they mistakenly believe that their land was stolen from them.  They want to replace Israel with an Islamic theocracy.  Pluralism is acceptable as long as other beliefs are under their “umbrella.”

They say they are occupied because they feel they don’t control Gaza.  They base this on the blockade that Egypt and Israel placed over Gaza following the election of Hamas, a party that has the destruction of Israel.  It has a strong record of using violence to achieve this goal.

See Israel and International Law: Uti Possidetis Juris and Its Implications | OPINION | The Princeton ToryThe Princeton Tory

2. Why did the Gazans attack now?

Because the Russo-Ukrainian War and the Abrahamic Accords showed that the world was moving on and not focusing on their cause.

The Abrahamic Accords showed Arab countries were tired of the Palestinian Arabs carrying on with their cause despite it going nowhere, consigning generations of youth to a life of deprivation and misery even after they had been offered statehood multiple times.

By attacking with sufficient scale, causing sufficient death and taking enough hostages, Hamas hoped to incite a war that would breathe oxygen back into their cause.  To maximize its propaganda value, their operators were instructed to upload and broadcast their actions on social media.  

3. Why does Israel’s response seem over the top?

Because Israel declared war to protect its vulnerable, punish wrongdoing and to deter further wrongdoing.

War is hell, and in urban warfare, deadly to civilians.  But Israel has conducted its war in such a humanitarian way that other powers are worried that they will have to do the same otherwise they could be hauled in front of the ICJ or ICC or both. 

In Gaza, which is the size of Ashburton, Hamas has built more tunnels than the NYC Subway.  There are few residential blocks without tunnels.  Under the laws of war, civilian structures lose their immunity if they are used for military purposes, even if it is used for cover.

See Israel Has Created a New Standard for Urban Warfare. Why Will No One Admit It? | Opinion – Newsweek

4. Why does Israel target Civilian homes, the UN, schools and hospitals?

In Gaza, which is the size of Ashburton, Hamas has built more tunnels than the NYC Subway.  There are few residential blocks without tunnels.  Under the laws of war, civilian structures lose their immunity if they are used for military purposes, including cover.

See Memo to the ‘Experts’: Stop Comparing Israel’s War in Gaza to Anything. It Has No Precedent | Opinion – Newsweek

This principle also applies to the UN, schools and hospitals.  Hamas and Hezbollah use these locations because they want to take advantage of their immunity.

It is standard procedure for such targets to be vetted by the IDF’s JAG before the attack can be ordered.

Only the commanding officer and the IDF’s JAG have full knowledge of the intelligence available that justified an attack.  In time of war, such information is classified.  

Consequently, without the full possession of such information it’s easy to wrongly conclude a war crime has been committed.

See Gaza hospital chief admits to being Hamas commander, using clinic as military base (msn.com)

5. Is Israel guilty of Genocide?

There is a flaw in the Genocide Convention definition of Genocide.  It says:

In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

1. Killing members of the group;
2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical
4. Destruction in whole or in part;
5. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
6. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

A literal interpretation could mean any homicide, whether it is an individual or multiple people are also Genocides.

Many people think of Genocide as any mass homicide.  

Either interpretation is a misapplication of the definition and does not reflect the intent of the Convention.

Israel has no intent to destroy all Arabs.  But Hamas wishes to destroy Israel by all means possible. 

See Definitions of Genocide and Related Crimes | United Nations

See 1988 Hamas charter – Wikipedia

See 2017 Hamas charter – Wikipedia

6. How did Hezbollah get involved?

Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 to stop PLO (another Palestinian Arab group) attacks from Lebanon.  Hezbollah was founded as a reaction against Israel’s invasion of Lebanon.  

Over the years, Hezbollah has built up a militia that is stronger than the Lebanese Army.  They have quite a few seats in the Lebanese parliament.  But the Lebanese government has no control over them or their militia.  For this reason, Hezbollah is called a “state within a state.”

Both Hamas and Hezbollah are funded by Iran and have become their proxies (puppets).  Iran is using them to wage a proxy war against Israel.

A day after the October 7 attack, Israel declared war and Hezbollah started firing missiles into Israel to pressure Israel into a cease fire.

They did this without consulting the Lebanese government.  In this way they have drawn the rest of Lebanon into a war they did not choose.

As the war in Gaza wound down after most of Hamas’ militia were destroyed, Israel turned to stop Hezbollah because over 60,000 people had been evacuated to escape their missiles.

Israel has decided the only way to stop Hezbollah is to destroy their ability to wage war.

7. Aren’t Israelis settler colonialists?

They aren’t settler colonialists because:

1. Jews are an indigenous people.  An indigenous people cannot colonize their own land.
2. For the Jews, this region is their homeland.  There is no metropole.
3. Although many Jews have been historically exiled or voluntarily emigrated, there has always been a remnant of Jews living continuously in the territory for 4,000 years.

See Settler colonialism – Wikipedia

8. Is Israel oppressing the Arabs?

From its inception, Israel has been attacked by the Arab majority in the region seeking to extend Islamic dominion.  Jews are trying to prevent being oppressed by Islamic expansionists.

Palestinian Arabs have created a grievance industry to hide the shame of the wrong decisions they have historically made, including rejecting statehood in 1948 and opting for a winner-take-all all, fight to the death war, and losing.

This grievance industry relies on denying this narrative and creating the Nakba myth.

Now there is an unhealthy dependence on foreign aid and a significant proportion of it is diverted to fund a terrorist war.

Terminology such as “resistance fighters” ennoble their cause but they are nothing like the French Resistance of WW2.  

In fact, Hamas is tyrannical and oppresses its own citizens.

See Why Hamas still relies on violent repression to control Gaza (theconversation.com)

9. Why is Israel escalating the conflict?

Israel has decided that to ensure the safety of its citizens and to deter Hamas and its successors from repeating October 7, it has to destroy Hamas’ ability to wage war.

Equally, it has decided that the same applies to Hezbollah.  In this way, it dismantles decades of Iranian investment and exposes how weak Iran really is. 

Birds of a feather flock together.  Iran is already aligning itself with Russia and China who are both tyrannies with imperial aspirations.  Who knows: If Iran is stopped then WW3 may well have been prevented or at least delayed for another generation.

10. What is the US’s involvement?

The US has been a long-time ally.  The two countries share many values:

1. Democracy
2. Freedom of association
3. Freedom of religion
4. Independent judiciary, army and police
5. The rule of law
6. Equality

Israel is at the forefront of many sciences and technologies. Consequently, the two countries vigorously trade.

Despite accusations of genocide, Israel has a far better DEI track record than its regional accusers.  There are hardly any Jews living among the other countries in the Middle East:  While over 20% of Israel’s population are non-Jewish.

The few discriminatory laws arise to mitigate security risks and promote public safety.

Google, Microsoft and Samsung all have research centres in Israel.

The US provides significant military aid to Israel.  

Unfortunately the US has struggled with being resolute in its foreign policy principally because they have been influenced by the false ideologies of settler colonialism, critical race theory, and neo-Marxism.

These ideologies are threatening to undermine Western Civilization too.