Photo from www.abc.net.au taken after an explosion on 17 October 2023 in a courtyard of al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City. A large number of displaced Palestinians seeking shelter there were killed or injured.
Gaza shows the disconnect between who we say we are and the things we do. It reminds us of the inhumanity of war everywhere, revealing the capacity we all have to embrace evil while declaring good intent. This article is not just about Israel or Hamas, but about all of us, no matter what we believe or our cultural history.
The wars in Gaza and in Ukraine, along with the cruelty we are witnessing from the Trump administration in America denying medical care and aid to millions, lead me to question the dichotomy between our beliefs, actions, and words. Indeed, we betray ourselves by what we do.
Recently, about Gaza I wrote:
“It is antisemitic to normalise the behaviour of the country that bombed a nation almost out of existence, destroying hospitals, kindergartens and targeting men, women and children. It is not Jewish, nor typical of a great religion or its people. It is though an abomination of that people, and those who direct or support it should be disowned by all Jews and all those who value humanity.”
This got me thinking. The principle in the statement can be applied to many peoples. It is definitely not just a Jewish reality, but an actuality that affects all of us regardless of our beliefs or cultural group.
Who has not ever asked the question: “Why did I do that or say that when it is against my beliefs and who I am as a person?” Domestic arguments often provoke such questioning, or should do.
A good friend of mine served in the Special Forces of a European nation. When he returned home, like so many from various wars, he warned his mother not to touch him when he slept as he might respond violently thinking he was under attack. She was to stand at the door and speak to him until he woke.
Her response:
“I gave the army my beautiful son and they sent home a murderer.”
My friend is a kind man. He was not born a murderer, but he carries deep grief over actions that he took in war taking the lives of innocent civilians and no doubt even children.
How many people charged with a criminal offence regret their actions on the basis that it was not consistent with who they were as people or who they wanted to be?
“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do… I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:15-20 NIV)
Now I don’t profess the traditional teachings about Sin, yet there is a psychological truth that occurs in all of us when something happens to change who we are leading to our letting go of the morals and ethics that were part of our upbringing.
The same can be said of Nation States led by similarly imperfect humans.
A simple test for all this is to ask the question: “Am I being kind?” “Is my country being kind?” “Is this the best we can be for ourselves, our children and our world?”
Kindness is central to my beliefs and was part of the Christian faith that I understood as a child. But today, there are parts of the world where people who profess that faith seem to have forgotten care for the marginalised, the poor and simply hospitality for those in need.
It is one thing to profess a belief or hold to an ideology. It is another to live by it – especially when power, fear, or tribal loyalty tempt us to look the other way. Across the world, many of our most cherished religions, philosophies, and political systems are being undermined from within. Not by enemies, but by adherents who act in direct contradiction to their foundational values.
So consider some variations of aberrations of belief and ethics.
In my view, it is definitely antisemitic to conflate Jewish identity with the actions of a state that has bombed a nation nearly out of existence, destroying hospitals, kindergartens, and targeting civilians. This is not Judaism. It is not reflective of a tradition rooted in justice, community, and remembrance of suffering. To remain silent or supportive of such atrocities is not a defense of Judaism – it is a betrayal of it. Those who direct or enable such actions must be disowned not only by Jews but by all who value human dignity.
The trigger for Israel’s response was the invasion by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), which began on October 7, 2023. This involved a land, sea, and air assault on Israel from the Gaza Strip and resulted in more than 1,200 deaths, primarily Israeli citizens, making it the deadliest day for Israel since its independence. Over 240 people were taken hostage during the attack.
As Netanyahu launched his massive counter attack in response that now sees Gaza a wasteland I feared that his actions alone would spark the greatest rise of antisemitism since the Holocaust.
Those who oppose Israel refuse to distinguish between its Zionist leaders and the people it governs, they perpetuate a lie that the actions of Israel are an example of Jews everywhere.
The people of Gaza are among the most oppressed and abandoned in the modern world. Blockaded, bombed, and broken by decades of siege and war, they live in conditions that defy human decency. Their suffering is not theoretical – it is daily, grinding, and suffocating.
But they are not Hamas.
Hamas is a militant organization that has ruled Gaza since 2007. It is designated as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union, and other countries, due to its attacks on civilians and its rejection of peaceful resolution. Hamas claims to speak for Palestinian resistance – but in truth, it often hijacks that cause for its own power. Its use of civilian areas for military purposes, its repression of dissent within Gaza, and its glorification of martyrdom have harmed not only Israelis but Palestinians as well.
When Hamas commits violence, it fuels those who would justify the crushing of Gaza. And when those who oppose Hamas refuse to distinguish between the group and the people it governs, they perpetuate a lie that all Gazans are combatants. This lie has justified bombings of homes, schools, and hospitals. It has erased the humanity of millions.
To stand with the people of Gaza is to oppose both the brutal blockade imposed upon them and the authoritarian rule of Hamas. It is to reject the false choice between occupation and extremism. The Palestinian people deserve liberation – from the siege, from despair, and from those who exploit their suffering for power.
No child in Gaza chose Hamas. No mother raising her family amid rubble voted for endless war. To conflate the people with their rulers is to commit a second violence: the violence of erasure.
If we are to be honest, we must say this: Hamas does not represent the full Palestinian cause, and its methods betray the legitimate yearning of its people for justice, dignity, and peace.
To truly stand for Palestine is to stand for nonviolence, for reconciliation, and for the right of every human being – Israeli or Palestinian – to live free from fear.
When Christians justify war, cruelty, racism, or the rejection of the poor and the refugee, they abandon the teachings of Christ. Jesus did not preach conquest, exclusion, or vengeance. He washed the feet of the poor, healed the sick, and welcomed the outcast. Churches that bless bombs, campaign against compassion, or accumulate wealth at the expense of mercy are not defending Christianity. They are desecrating it. Those who cheer violence while quoting Scripture do not merely misunderstand their faith – they mock it.
Islam is a religion of submission to divine will, of peace and community, of justice and mercy. Yet when regimes acting in the name of Islam suppress women, persecute minorities, or engage in brutal authoritarianism, they betray the very spirit of the Prophet’s message. The Qur’an does not license cruelty or domination. To claim it does is to corrupt Islam from within. Muslims who uphold the faith’s true principles must speak clearly against those who profane it with tyranny.
Buddhism teaches compassion, detachment from desire, and reverence for life. Yet in some regions, Buddhists have supported violent nationalism and ethnic cleansing. The very idea of Buddhist monks leading or blessing violence is a grotesque inversion of their path. When followers of a peace-based philosophy become tools of oppression, they do not fail to live up to Buddhism – they actively betray it.
Humanists claim to believe in the dignity, worth, and autonomy of every human being. But if they ignore injustice unless it suits their politics, or belittle the suffering of the religious or poor, they expose a shallowness in their convictions. Secular societies that pride themselves on enlightenment yet tolerate mass inequality, surveillance, or systemic cruelty are not bastions of progress – they are façades of convenience.
Modern democracies often boast freedom, equality and rule of law. But when these societies fund or excuse genocides abroad, suppress dissent at home, or prioritize corporate profit over human life, they are not defending democracy – they are gutting it. Voting alone does not sanctify a society. Only the daily practice of justice, transparency, and compassion can do that.
I guess I’m a strange person in this world. I have no interest at all in competitive sport, even though I recognise the health and social benefits for my children and grandchildren too.
In Melbourne, where I live, we have a huge following for AFL football. Traditionally those who have a team they follow believe in their team with religious conviction. Nothing under the sun would see an Essendon (Bombers) supporter turn to the hated Collingwood (Magpies). This, to me, is absurd. As if Magpies supporters had different blood flowing in their veins to the rest of us. Kind of reminds me of racism a little.
The passion for your team can outweigh all other considerations, illustrating that no group – religious, secular, or political – is immune to the danger of betraying its core ideals.
Tribal loyalty: the instinct to defend “our side” even when it is indefensible is the problem. It starts wars. It condones violence. It diminishes us as people.
Loyalty to truth and to conscience must always come before loyalty to flag, faith, party, King, Queen or President.
We must hold ourselves and our communities to account. Not to shame, but to restore. Not to tear down, but to return to what we claim to stand for. If we do not challenge betrayal within, we invite collapse from within.
To love a tradition is not to defend its worst actors. It is to insist that it live up to its best.
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Good article with breadth, depth and nuance unlike RW MSM and in indie media alleged anti-imperialists of the left, who focus tightly on Israel Netanyahu - Hamas Gaza; backgrounded by media stunts so the right can claim 'the left is anti-semitic'.
Questions and aspects ignored by US led Anglosphere media and ageing faux anti-imperialist tankies of the ideological left include:
Why did Hamas launch an attack on October 7 knowing full well the potential blow back from Israel, and why was the latter seemingly lax & unprepared?
Why had both Hamas and Netanyahu been friendly with Putin; the latter two with Trump too?
Why over many years had Trump's now new Qatari friends cooperated with Netanyahu (see Qatargate) to fund Hamas in Gaza?
Why was a geo-political issue, with the players and perps related to the Anglosphere of the right ignored, in favour of wedging & dog whistling Biden, Harris & Dems, then UK Labour opposition, then in Oz Albanese, Wong and the ALP?
Why, related to previous point, did many social media accounts pro-Gaza or Hamas with anti-centrist government activity, fall off a cliff once Trump was elected?
Mission accomplished to give Putin's stalled invasion of Ukraine a breather, keep Netanyahu out of the courts, damage the Democrats for Trump's election and like locally claim 'the left is anti-semitic'; God help anyone allied with and relying upon Trump's regime of grifters.....