To be clear, the attack by Hamas that raped and killed so many civilians is pure evil. But so is the counterattack by Israel that continues to kill so many civilians. And so is the blockade that makes the Gaza Strip into the world’s largest open-air prison. And so are the attacks on Palestinians by Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
Israel was basically founded by Jewish terrorists (and they never really stopped), but as usual, the root of the problem is European meddling: first the Sykes–Picot Agreement and then the Balfour Declaration. The former stole Palestine from the Arabs living there, and the latter gave Zionists the green light to move in. When Britain tried to restrict the flow of immigration with the White Paper of 1939, it was already too late.
The Palestinians have every right to be pissed off and want their homeland back, but that does not justify Hamas’ atrocities.
P.S. A devout Catholic once told me that Israel owns the land “by right of conquest.” It really shocked me that they didn’t realize that “right of conquest” implies “might makes right.” Haven’t we moved past that yet?!?
John Lindal 