The Path to Peace
There is another way–a more just and effective way–to bring justice to Hamas AND make sure nothing like this ever happens again.
The Geneva Conventions are the cornerstones of international law concerning war. They were developed in direct response to World War I and II. They reveal the standards of what acts are so evil the world united to create laws outlawing them.
Hamas has clearly violated the Conventions and the international laws of war. They targeted families and civilians. They raped. They destroyed homes. They murdered upwards of 1000 Israelis. Hamas MUST be brought to justice.
But last night I listened as @alivelshi reported from Israel that a growing tide of Israelis want their government to raze Gaza to the ground, as in bomb it all to the ground with all the people still in it. “They just want them gone,” Velshi said.
Let us be clear: At best that would be ethnic cleansing. At worst, that would be genocide.
I appreciate President Biden walking back his “full stop” comment by adding the caveat that American support is contingent on Israel’s commitment to the Geneva Convention and international law. Let us be clear: 159 articles of the Geneva Convention of 1949 protect civilians, including Articles 33-34 which prohibit reprisals and indiscriminate destruction of property, among other things.
Israel has announced that it has cut off food, water, and power to the Gaza Strip. Let us be clear: This is in violation of Protocol 1 of the Geneva Convention. Articles 51-54 prohibit destruction of food, water, and other materials needed for survival.
Gaza is about the size of Philadelphia, PA, with a population of 2.3 million people, and children make up about 50% of its population. Let us be clear: Bombing children is a violation of the Geneva Convention no matter how many pamphlets Israel drops warning the bombs are coming. They are still destroying the homes of children while giving them nowhere to go.
Israel has an absolute right to protect itself from Hamas. Hamas’ actions have been straight up evil. They MUST be brought to justice.
And let us be clear: Israel does not have the right to “eliminate” Gaza. Israel does not have the right to cut off food, water, and power. Israel does not have the right to bomb children’s homes. These acts are also evil, and violate international law.
There is another way–a more just and effective way–to bring justice to Hamas AND make sure nothing like this ever happens again.
Israel should declare that it will take action against Hamas at the time and place of its choosing.
Israel should renounce Netanyahu’s policies of annexation, dispossession, and legalized ethnic cleansing. Creation of the Gaza strip itself—the world’s largest open-air prison, half filled with children—is arguably an act of ethnic cleansing.
Finally, Israel must separate Hamas from the Palestinian people–seeing the people not as enemies or “animals,” but as human beings with families and talents and dreams who simply want to be free.
I listened to one commentator on this story say “This is a story of good and evil.”
No. It is not. It is a story of evil and choices the State of Israel has to make. Some of those choices could lead to good outcomes for all. Some of those choices could lead (and are leading) to violations of International law and codified evil.
I fear Israel is allowing itself to be swayed toward evil—to the detriment of its own future flourishing.
This path will require actual faith in G-d.
Genocide does not require faith. Ethnic cleansing does not require faith. Bombing children does not require faith. And none of these paths will bring actual peace to Israel. The path to peace will require actual faith in G-d.
President and founder of FreedomRoad.us, Lisa Sharon Harper is a writer, podcaster and public theologian. Lisa is author of critically acclaimed book, Fortune: How Race Broke My Family And The World—And How To Repair It All.
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