Sorrow, anger, disgust, heartbreak follow Hamas’ terror attack
Versions of this column, which I wrote on Monday (Oct. 9, 2023) --- two days
after the horrifying and deadly sneak attack into Israel by Hamas, the Palestinian
terror organization --- were published online at Jewish Rhode Island of
Providence, RI, on Tuesday (Oct. 10, 2023) and on Wednesday (Oct. 11, 2023) in
The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro, MA.
The indiscriminate killing of hundreds Israeli civilians --- including women,
children and babies --- by Hamas was disgusting, and now has sadly triggered a
much wider war by Israel on Hamas --- something that the terrorists likely
expected, and in a perverse way, probably wanted.
Hamas, after all, would like nothing more than to put Israel in a bad light.
The terror group also desperately wants to foment yet more antisemitism in a
bid to achieve their goal of wiping out Israel and making Jews worldwide a
target for violence and hatred.
Nonetheless, the entire situation is a massive blow to any chance to achieve Middle
East peace. The wider war is also heartbreaking and will claim thousands of
innocent civilians on both sides --- just a terrible tragedy!
Links to the column’s versions are at the end of this column.
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When I first heard the news on
Saturday --- the Jewish Sabbath as well as the eve of the normally joyous
holiday of Simchat Torah (which marks the annual beginning of the reading of the
Five Books of Moses or the Old Testament) --- about the devastating terror
attack unleashed on Israel and its residents, including an undetermined number
of Americans and people from other countries who were either killed or taken
captive, I was appalled, but not completely surprised.
That's because, in my 71 years, the deep-seated and never-ending hatred between
the Arab world (including the Palestinians) and surrounding Middle East
nations, and the Jews has been going on for thousands of years, and almost
non-stop since the modern-day nation of Israel was founded 75 years ago, just
three years after the end of World War II and the end of the Nazis’ Holocaust.
Moreover, thanks to the extremists on all sides, I’m confident in saying that
the term "Mideast Peace" will forever remain an oxymoron.
But, despite not being surprised that a new and more frightening war had broken
out as a result of Hamas' stunning cold-blooded sneak attack 50 years and one
day to the date, Oct. 6, 1973, of the start of the Yom Kippur War, I was nonetheless
shaken up by the latest news.
The carnage, kidnappings, rapes and killings that have taken place since the
invasion by Hamas --- and that will continue to mount in the days and weeks
ahead as the war no doubt expands --- were and will be both frightening and
mind-boggling.
Similar to how I felt in 1967 (during the Six-Day War),
in 1973 and so often after that whenever violence in the Mideast boiled over
into conflict and war, I was and am sickened over how too many leaders prefer their
hardline views with no possibility of compromise. Those views over the years
have led to policies that have made it harder to achieve any semblance of peace
--- and that instead have led to devastating wars.
Two notable exceptions to leaders clinging to their destructive, extreme
views took place 15 years apart, in 1978 and 1993.
In 1978, it was so much better for all parties in the Mideast when courageous
leaders such as Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President
Anwar Sadat made peace at Camp David.
Fifteen years later, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin gave us hope for
peace when, in an historic meeting with Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
leader Yasser Arafat, a framework for peace was forged.
Unfortunately, Rabin was gunned down in 1995 by a fanatical Israeli opposed to the
then-prime minister’s peace efforts. Since Rabin's assassination, attempts to
make peace have sputtered and fallen victim to extremists on both sides of the
conversation.
Things have festered and occasionally caused smaller conflicts and wars. Now,
the failure of leaders of Israel, the Palestinians and other Arab nations to
make genuine peace offerings has emboldened the Hamas terrorists to launch a
sweeping attack against civilians in Israel.
As a result, in these early days of this latest Mideast war, there are only two
sure bets:
1. A terrible toll on both sides will be extracted, with thousands and
thousands of deaths and casualties and widespread destruction of infrastructure,
homes and businesses. It will not only be a total waste of resources and human
beings, but it will take a terrible toll on the economies of both Israel and
the Palestinians. Instead of both peoples enjoying the fruits of true economic
cooperation, they will have put their people in a terrible economic position.
2. Antisemitism worldwide, and especially in the United States by the
previously emboldened white supremacists and haters of the Jewish people, will
increase dramatically above and beyond the recent increases --- and that will
be as unfair as it’ll be frightening.
That’s why tears of sorrow filled up my eyes as I wrote this.
Larry Kessler is a retired Sun Chronicle local news editor
and can be reached at larrythek65@gmail.com. He blogs at larrytheklineup.blogspot.com
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Links to the Jewish Rhode Island
column on the Jewish Rhode Island website:
https://www.jewishrhody.com/stories/deep-sorrow-for-whats-happening-now-and-whats-coming-hamas-war-israel-holocaust,45800?newsletter=45774
https://www.jewishrhody.com/stories/deep-sorrow-for-whats-happening-now-and-whats-coming-hamas-war-israel-holocaust,45800?
Link to The Sun Chronicle column on the newspaper’s website: https://www.thesunchronicle.
This is an eloquent analysis of an horrific situation, where the loss of innocent lives — even among their own people — is the ultimate goal for Hamas in order to spread hatred and fear. Bill S
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