Opinion: Defending Israel and the truth

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In light of recent hostility in the Middle East and how these events were portrayed to the world through various forms of media, we — as people who believe in Israel’s right to defend herself and Palestinians’ right to their own state — feel obligated to inform the average college student about what they did not see on Fox News.

(CU Independent Illustration/Josh Shettler)

The struggle between Palestine and Israel, let us be clear, is not a quarrel between Arabs and Jews, nor Palestinians and Israelis. It is a fight between the anti-Semitic terrorist group Hamas (the working government organization of Palestine) and the government of Israel.

Because of  the media’s skewed portrayal of the Gaza conflict, which mounted in the week of Nov. 10 through 17, Israel has recently been dubbed the “aggressor,” which is misleading.

The conflict was not started by Israel’s military action in recent weeks, as was widely reported. Israel was acting in response to a threat that was making life unlivable for over a million Israeli citizens. If one bomb was fired into the United States, we would be at war immediately, without question and without the title of aggressor or instigator. Israelis have been unfairly conditioned to live normally with rockets being fired at their country.

There are no innocent parties in this altercation.

Regardless of the cease-fire agreements of the past decade, rockets have been raining down almost daily into Israeli settlements and cities. Over the weekend of Nov. 10 to 11, the rocket fire increased drastically; over a period of 48 hours, hundreds of rockets were fired into Southern Israel. It was after that weekend of hostility escalation that Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) responded with a strategic military attack on Ahmed al-Jabari, the chief of Hamas’ military wing. After the IDF responded, most American media outlets began to report on the crisis, falsely claiming that Israel had started this conflict by attacking out of nowhere with no reason. Slanted coverage continued throughout the entire conflict.

Civilian casualties on both sides are a tragic loss of life, but the discrepancy in numbers is no surprise because of Hamas’ tactics mid-November. Hamas intentionally locates a majority of its headquarters underneath or near schools, hospitals and mosques with the expectation that the IDF will have to go through civilian establishments to get to them. This strategy was successful in painting Israel as an aggressor and has worked due to the media’s apparent tunnel vision of the conflict.

Israel is by no means innocent in this; we will never support every decision the government makes. Israel is guilty of unnecessary civilian death the same way Hamas is. The difference, however, is that Hamas intends to kill civilians (whether Jewish Israelis or Arab Israelis) with the mindset of erasing Israel, while Israel kills civilians with the mindset of taking out the terrorists who are trying to erase them.

Whether or not we agree with the action that the Israeli government takes, Israel as a nation has every right to defend itself and its people from a seemingly endless attack. Today more than ever before, the ongoing hostility surrounding Israel is between governments more than it is between peoples. Palestinian civilians and Israeli civilians overwhelmingly want peace. With each new generation, the conflict becomes a deeper part of both of these nations, so it is our generation’s duty to end the cycle of violence.

Contact Opinion Writers Hannah Herreid at Hannah.herreid@colorado and Micah Mador at [email protected]

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