There Are Only Us

While the world outside has seen reams of coverage of the war – and seems to have largely forgotten that it started with Hamas’ massacre of some 1,200 people – Israel’s media has mostly averted its eyes from the suffering in Gaza.
‘NAZA’: the film causing outrage in Israel

"The world outside" of Israel is billions of people, not just the Jewish state's vocal critics in the industrialized west. And presuming that "I think, therefore I am" is accurate, I am one of those people. And I have not at all forgotten the events of October 7th, 2023. But I, like many people, don't believe that the Hamas attack on Israel justifies any given action that the government of Israel might take in response to it. One can recall the Hamas attack on Israeli civilians while not concluding that Israel has followed international humanitarian rules with regard to the treatment of Palestinian civilians.

Because Hamas is not a formal military force with uniforms, bases and dedicated military infrastructure, it's undeniably difficult to understand, just by looking at a person, whether or not they are a member of the group, someone who provides material support to the group or is an outspoken critic of the group. But that doesn't mean it's reasonable to prosecute a war with an attitude of "kill them all, God will know his own." And that's really what the Israeli government and military has been accused of. And it seems that there's some sensitivity around that; if the Israeli government felt that the general public in Israel would support putting the screws to Gazans, whether or not they were Hamas members, Israel's media would have "averted its eyes." They'd be celebrating actions as victories.

Despite what the Netanyahu administration might believe, it has no right to the support of people outside of Israel. If it wants such support, it must request it. And requests are granted on the benefactor's terms. If "the world outside" wants more measured action in dealing with the people of Gaza, the world is within its rights to condition support for Israel on that. Countering with a charge that Hamas' 2023 attack has been somehow forgotten is disingenuous. Israelis are allowed to see themselves as being unambiguously the Good Guys in their conflict with Hamas. But that's different than being entitled to everyone else, or even all of their fellow Israelis, having an obligation to concur with that self-assessment.