After Israel was attacked by the Hamas terrorists on October 7, most countries expressed their support for Israel.
The majority of countries have condemned the Hamas organization, even if they are dissatisfied with Israel’s long-standing oppression of the Palestinians and the siege and blockade that has deprived millions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank of their freedom. However, after Israel chose to bomb Gaza indiscriminately, killing more than 8,500 civilians, nearly half of whom were children, many countries have come to the conclusion that Israel’s claim of “self-defense” in retaliation is a serious violation of human rights and a war crime.
In the Hamas terrorist attack, 1,400 civilians died and more than 200 people were taken hostage, Israel is obviously a victim. Even though many people think that Israel has been oppressing the Palestinians for a long time and forcing them to leave Israel, not many people are willing to support Hamas and think that Israel deserves it. However, ever since Israel cut off water, electricity, food and energy to Gaza, blockaded Gaza and used huge military force to flatten most of Gaza, killing close to 10,000 Palestinian civilians and putting the lives of millions of Palestinians in jeopardy, the Israeli government, which carried out the military atrocities, has been severely criticized around the globe as victimizing innocent people.
Victims have no right to victimize other innocents
Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, which has killed civilians, is claimed to be an attempt to neutralize the Hamas terrorists hiding behind “human shields”.On November 1, an Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp in Jabalya, northern Gaza, killed a Hamas commander who had planned and directed the October 7 attack, although at least 50 Palestinian civilians were reportedly killed and hundreds injured in the same airstrike.
In the eyes of the Israeli government, the terrorist attack on October 7 is a matter of life and death for the Israeli state, so no matter how much it costs, the Hamas organization must be eliminated, and attacks like this are acceptable. However, the vast majority of those killed were not terrorists, but innocent civilians. Does the Israeli government really have the right to sacrifice the lives of a large number of civilians in other countries in order to achieve what it believes is necessary to protect its own security from threats?
Yes, wars have been fought since the beginning of time by totalitarian rulers who have sacrificed the lives of hundreds of thousands or millions of people (not their own) to achieve their personal goals. However, since the establishment of the United Nations and the signing of various human rights treaties after World War II, the participating nations have agreed that if human society continues to fight like this, it will be the destruction of the entire human race. Today, Israel and other countries waging war are in fact going back to this old path. It can be said that the history of the Second World War is a lesson that has been forgotten by more and more people in human society today as the current generation dies of old age, and it seems that we are unknowingly going back to the old path.
Human rights are established in the sense that all human beings are equal and have the same rights, and it is only when we determine which rights are basic to the human being that we can determine which rights are basic to the human being. The ability to obtain the basic necessities of life, liberty and security, are recognized as basic rights in almost all countries, regardless of their political systems. Israel would be violating human rights if it were to exterminate the civilian population of another country because it believes that its own security is threatened. It is disappointing that the leaders of a country like Australia, which values human rights and equality, do not have the courage to stand up for this simple truth.
Six former prime ministers are disappointing
On October 30th, seven former Australian Prime Ministers who are still alive, six of them including Howard, Rudd, Gillard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison, issued a statement condemning the terrorist attack by Hamas and expressing their concern for the Australian Jewish community, and expressing their shock at the deaths and injuries of innocent Palestinians and the killing of children. The former prime ministers did not express regret for Israel, except to say that Israel should honor its commitment to avoid civilian casualties.
The former Prime Ministers said that Australia is a multicultural country and that it is an important value of the Australian society that Australians do not let conflicts in overseas countries lead to incompatibility between communities within the Australian society. Today it is Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians, tomorrow it could be China’s collision with Southeast Asian countries in the South China Sea, or next year it could be India’s tensions with China. These are all issues that are beyond the control of Australians from different countries, but which affect different ethnic communities. The former Prime Minister’s call for Australians to maintain solidarity, tolerance and respect in these overseas conflicts is of paramount importance.
However, the former Prime Ministers’ condemnation of the Hamas organization without also denouncing Israeli violence is disturbingly biased in favour of Israel. Instead of holding the perpetrators accountable, the former prime ministers showed only concern and sympathy for the oppressed Palestinians, revealing the hypocrisy of the politicians.
Former Prime Minister Paul Keating said he refused to sign the statement because it was presented to him by pro-Jewish lobbying organizations, whose demands he felt should not be supported. I greatly appreciate former Prime Minister Keating’s response.
Victims Become Victimizers
Israel was established in 1947 because many countries sympathized with the fact that the Jews had been persecuted by other countries for more than 2,000 years because they did not have a state of their own, and so the Zionist Jewish restoration movement was supported before World War II. At that time, the Arabs refused to accept the partition of Israel and Palestine because of religious, land, and cultural issues. In the many Israeli-Palestinian wars, Israel won and gained more land, and the Palestinians became the oppressed. However, Israel is also aware that without maintaining friendly relations with its neighbors, its national security is under constant threat, and extremist Islamic countries such as Iran and Iraq have developed many armed terrorist organizations with the goal of destroying Israel.
As a result, Israel has increasingly taken a more aggressive approach to retaliation, seeing it as a guarantee of its own security. The current Hamas operation is intended to deliberately sabotage the search for peace by setting up a situation in which Israel might be able to reconcile with some moderate Arab states. In the face of this challenge, Israel should overcome evil with good and show greater sincerity and determination to seek peace with the neighboring countries, for example, by further easing the oppression of the Palestinians within its borders, rather than deepening the hatred between the two peoples.
Hatred is like a fire that can start a prairie fire and burn out the sincerity of the original intention to reconcile. Israel’s strategy of killing a large number of civilians to eliminate the terrorists is doomed to failure. This is the reason why the Chinese say, “It is better to reconcile a family than to end a priapic relationship”. New Testament Romans 12:20-21: “Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; and if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for in so doing you are heaping coals of fire on his head. Thou shalt not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Although this is a statement about one’s attitude toward one’s enemies, I believe it is a strategy that the government of Israel should carefully consider.
Unfortunately, not many Israelis are Christians, and Judaism does not believe in the New Testament, so leaders of other countries who have been supporting Israel need to urge and remind Israel’s leaders not to be victimizers of the innocent just because their own country is a victim. In fact, most of today’s chilling terrorists are people who feel priapic because of their oppression and turn to victimize the weaker innocents to complain to the world about the injustice and pain they have suffered. However, the barbaric violence and irrational behavior of these people has caused their demands to be unrecognized by the world.
Looking forward
It is clear that as the war between Israelis and Israelis develops over the next few weeks, there is a strong possibility that it will grow and deteriorate, and that we may feel that there is nothing we can do, or that justice does not exist in the world. But each of us can still pray for the mercy of the Creator of history to keep the world from moving toward all-out war again. I hope that regardless of our political stance, we will see the priapism of the suffering and not be the judge, criminalizing people and supporting violent retaliation against the common man. Leaders must also show moral courage and be people of peace. We ask that you pray for the political leaders of Australia, that they will be agents of peace between nations.
Mr. Raymond Chow