Two Great Wrongs, and no one is right.

When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023 the world was taken aback and stood with Israel. We understood that such a savage attack, regardless of Israeli actions that may have precipitated the attack, was morally wrong. The killings and assaults on children, women and men were irreprehensible. Based on the evidence the world bore witness to, war crimes were committed by Hamas.

Since then Israel has been responsible for attacks on the civilian population of Gaza with thousands dead and no end to Israeli atrocities in site. The war crimes committed by Israel are now completely eclipsing any favor Israel may have had during and just after the Hamas attacks.

Both Hamas and the Israeli government have now shown that they deserve no support on the international stage. Only and exclusively supporting the citizens of Gaza, Israel, and the West Bank is now a moral imperative with a call for an immediate cease fire.

Both Hamas and the Israeli Government Have Failed

There is no argument that can now be claimed as high ground by either Hamas or Israel. Both the Israeli Government and Hamas have acted with complete disregard to civilians.

Before the Hamas attack, there was a strong argument that the treatment by Israel of the people who lived in Gaza amounted to criminal behavior and possibly prosecutable under international law. But Hamas made a huge tactical mistake by allowing it’s foot soldiers to commit crimes of such a heinous nature during the October attack that any action by Hamas to claim the higher ground was lost.

So too the Israeli Government has undermined their own objective of destroying Hamas by raging a war so violent against the civilian population of Gaze that it has ensured another generation of people who see Israel as a bringer of death and destruction, making the Israeli war against Hamas a recruitment landslide for every anti-Israeli group in the Middle East.

What Should the Response To Hamas and The Israeli Governments Be?

A pox on both your houses! No support should be given to either bullying faction now. Both have shown that their lack of respect for human life should be met with as just a response as can be made.

Members of Hamas should be brought to trial for their crimes in international court, any funding for the group should be seized by international banking and frozen indefinitely. Likewise, Israeli officials and military members who took part in the crimes against civilians in the occupied territories should be brought before international courts and put on trial for their crimes. Any funding toward Israel should be immediately frozen and heald until such time that Israel has not only stopped the attacks on civilians but has rendered aid and supports a two-state solution where palestinians are in control of their own territories and resources (water, power, trade) so the Palestinian people will never again be subject to such atrocities.

It may be said that anything less than these actions gives the status quo an excuse to commit further atrocities.

Responsibility of the United States

Let it be said that the United States has no high ground in this situation either. The actions of our government has for too long ignored the rights of civilians not only in the middle east but around the world in its attempt to “stabilize” political landscapes. We have put more importance on “anti communism” or putting the interests of multinational corporations over the good of the people. Though we claim that every person has inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, our government too frequently works against these inalienable rights.

In the past six years the United States has supported the government of Israel over the Palestinian civilians in at least two instances.

U.S. Embassy Moved to Jerusalem

The United States moved its embassy in Israel from Televiev to Jerusalem, which went against multiple United Nations resolutions. This move by the United States took away a barganing chip for a two-state solution and showed more support for the right-wing members of the Israeli government.

The Abraham Accords

To garner support for the Abraham Accords the United States again chose to show political favor over the rights of civilians. In order to get Morocco to sign onto the agreement, the United States chose to play politics with complete disrespect for civilians of Western Sahara stating in part that “The United States recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over the entier Western Sahara…” (See State Department PDF). This action effectively took away the voice of the indigenous Sahrawi people who have been in dispute with Morocco over the land. In 1991 the UN brokered a deal which has now been undermined by the U.S. deal with Morocco supporting the Abraham Accords. It seams that United States policy has no real respect for the rights of peoples living in disputed lands.

U.S. Policy Going Forward

Perhaps the best U.S. policy for the future would involve paying attention to those inalienable rights all people are supposed to have. Allowing the people to have a say in their circumstances might prove a worthy, dare we say, democratic solution providing an outlet for any disputes that may come up. U.S. foreign policy over the past century has seemingly lacked the attention to the rights every United States citizen seems to take for granted and has lead to the United States being seen in many parts of the world as a bully. Perhaps it’s time this changes.

Doing the right thing, empowering people to make decisions for themselves, is the long-term best option and one that cannot be argued with. Undermining communities for political reasons and forcing one will upon others who have no say in the situation will always build up resentment and ultimately revolution. We must move away from one group controlling another.