Of Murderers, Martyrs, Manipulators, and Short Memories
"We're not going to fall into the traps and mind games of Hamas. We are going to focus on getting them out by whatever way possible."
By Michael Golden
Eli Tzur and his daughter Gaya hid together in their home shelter when Hamas missiles started crashing to the ground on Oct. 7. They had no idea how much manual murder at close range was going on just outside.
Eli and four other men joined together to try to protect their 700 friends and neighbors in the moshav. They were armed with only pistols — against Hamas killers toting AK-47s. Many died. The father and daughter survived. No rhyme or reason.
Twenty-seven-year old Gaya is not only heartsick and shell-shocked — she is also questioning her entire belief system about what is possible:
“I don’t know if I can deal with this situation anymore. I (was) always talking about peace, and to be okay with them. To live with them. But after that event, maybe there are no people there that want peace with us.”
How could Gaya or anyone else who was assaulted on Oct 7th not have grave doubts — if any hope at all — about how “peace” could ever afterward come to pass? Peace implies actually living in peace. In this world. In real time. A placement of value on life itself.
But the handwriting has been on the wall for a while. Make that a megaphone and for decades. The murderous mastermind of the Oct. 7th massacre is a terrorist named Muhammad Deif, who, in an interview, with his cowardly face covered in silhouette, made no secret of Hamas’ intent:
“Today, you Israelis are fighting divine soldiers who love death for Allah like you love life, and who compete amongst themselves for martyrdom like you flee for life.”
Deif made this statement nine years ago. His partner in eternal anti-Semitism, Ismail Haniyeh, announced much the same. Twenty-four days ago, the world received yet another reminder of just how much they meant it.
The two self-congratulating “martyrs” are actually correct about half of their claim: Jews do love life. It is our very essence. We exclaim “L’chaim!” in toasts for this very reason. We also wear it around our necks. Not exactly a news flash.
The “flee” part of the statement is almost too moronically hypocritical to address. Almost… These murderers know all too well that Israelis fight bravely and steadfastly for life — they rescued one of the hostages today. The IDF’s prowess is why Hamas is right now back-channeling for a “ceasefire.”
Folks who are watching the war closely — and have an actual sense of history — understand that this entire death tableau set up by Hamas is one giant manipulation. It’s the same old playbook — except this time they didn’t just poke the lion with rocks and rockets. They carried out widespread killing and torture in animalistic fashion.
Now Hamas wants to trade innocent Israeli hostages for their imprisoned killers. Make no mistake: this is still a manipulation.
You need look no further than the oft-mentioned 1988 Hamas charter, where the group defines itself as an “extremist fundamentalist Islamic organization” whose goal is to kill all Jews. Hamas makes its philosophy very clear with regard to even the idea of coexistence with Israelis:
“There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by Jihad.”
That was 35 years ago, but we know how old this thinking really is. Millennia. Yet even in modern history (the first official Palestinian rejection of a two-state solution will turn 76 years old on November 29), Israel has never had a real partner for peace. It is an easily verifiable fact.
Now, once again, a handful of talking TV heads are trying to justify Hamas’ killing of Jews as somehow “political.” These people have zero intellectual credibility. Sadly, they are merely making excuses for a new generation of killers. Consider the absolute thrill expressed by one of the murderers in a phone call to his parents:
“Look how many I killed with my own hands! Your son killed Jews! I am inside Mefalsim, Dad.”
This just might be the biggest difference between the two sides in this tragic war. Israelis — and all Jews — cannot even fathom a single one of our brethren celebrating the act of killing. Even during the very worst moments of self-defense, it is unimaginable. Gaya Tzur speaks for a people:
“I don't know. This is not our culture. This is not what my parents taught me — to be happy that Palestinians died. Never, never.”
The fact that this glaring difference is not universally understood is positively maddening to me. Hamas terrorists kill innocent victims and enjoy the killing. Conversely, Israelis make an effort to thread the needle in battle to minimize civilian casualties. The IDF even alerts people in Gaza to clear areas before they’re about to attack…
…Only seconds after I wrote the words “about to attack,” the news networks reported that 22-year-old Shani Louk has died. Shani was one of the hundreds abducted by Hamas. Her crime? Being Jewish while attending a “Supernova” rave dance party. Not a soldier. Just a kid. Having some fun with friends.
Upon hearing the news, the vomit rushes up my throat.
Israeli author Joanna Landau and I wrote about Shani in this space on Oct 10, right before we laid out Joanna's critically important strategy on how to best communicate about this war: Focus on the hostages.
Admittedly, I am deviating from that strategy today, because my head or my heart just might explode if I don’t. And as I clumsily grope for words to describe this ineffable war — that didn’t have to happen — anger is the emotion that burns hottest. Every hour.
As furious as I am about the 1,500 innocent lives that were snuffed out and the more than 230 others who are still in captivity — I am nearly as incensed that Hamas has forced Israel into this incredibly difficult position.
If there were an actual partner for peace, the retaliation being taken by Israel’s forces might need not be so thorough. But any thinking person with a short-term memory that stretches at least 24 days understands that this is not the case.
To be clear: more than anything I want Israel to do whatever’s necessary to bring those kidnapped innocents home. Any of them could be any of us — and we are all each other. That’s the whole point. To that end, it was good to hear IDF Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Cornicus reiterate this priority on Monday:
"We understand that there’s psychological warfare at play. We understand that they’re trying to use hostages as leverage. And, what we are saying is that we're not going to fall into the traps and the mind games of Hamas. We are going to focus on getting them out by whatever way possible."
Let us hope that strategy sustains. It is a war, after all.
But let us also not lose sight of the fact that Hamas’ murderous martyrs will keep trying to manipulate the world with false promises, empty gestures, and expectations of gratitude for allowing people to live. For allowing Jews to live.
Don’t fall for it.
Michael Golden is the Editor-in-Chief of JEWDICIOUS.
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