On the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War last weekend, Israel, the great outpost of democracy and freedom in Western Asia, was attacked by Hamas. This attack was unprovoked and unjustified. So far over 1,000 Israelis have been killed and over 100 taken hostage by Islamist terrorists. In one instance around 260 young Israelis and foreign nationals were brutally gunned down at a music festival near the border with Gaza. Israel and the West have responded strongly, with Prime Minister Netanyahu stating: “We didn’t want this war. It was forced upon us in the most brutal and savage way,” he said. “But though Israel didn’t start this war, Israel will finish it.” Prime Minister Sunak has also stated strongly: “I stand with Israel. We stand with Israel. The United Kingdom stands with Israel against this terrorism today, tomorrow, and always.” President Biden has condemned the “sheer evil” of the Hamas attack. Such strong responses are welcome, but how many are willing to criticize or even name the ideology behind the attack: Islamist Jihadism.
If one wants to understand the true genocidal motivations behind the current pogrom against Israel then they need to look no further than the Hamas Covenant which says:
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: "The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.'"....There is no solution for the Palestine question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors. Palestine is an Islamic land.1
Aside from the massacre of Israelis this week by Hamas, does one need any further evidence that the borders of Israel are the borders of the Holocaust? Despite the very obvious anti-Semitic motivations of Hamas in carrying out this deliberate butchering of civilians, there are indeed some Israelophobes and anti-Semites who try to justify or excuse the acts of terror. We’ve also seen victim blaming by those who refuse to condemn the actions of Hamas, yet are happy to condemn Israel and use the killings peddle their anti-Israel bigotry. Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn posted on X, saying: “The unfolding events in Israel and Palestine are deeply alarming.” He continued, “We need an immediate ceasefire and urgent de-escalation. And we need a route out of this tragic cycle of violence: ending the occupation is the only means of achieving a just and lasting peace.” According to him, the Israelis are to blame for their own slaughter. That this man came so close to being Prime Minister is a grave reflection of this country and of the Labour Party in particular. Indeed, he has not been been the only one. Corbyn’s former advisor James Schneider appeared on GB News condemning “Israeli war crimes”. Evidently Schneider thinks that Israel should refuse to respond to the unprovoked attack on it’s people and sovereignty. Which other country would be held to the same standard? Should Great Britain have laid down her arms in response to Nazi aggression in Europe? Should Ukraine lay down their weapons and submit to their own genocide by the Russians? Certainly not! Yet neither the racist Islamist ideology of Hamas, nor it’s evil actions against civilians has stopped socialists from spewing their hatred towards Israel.
In London we have seen thousands of pro-Palestine protesters descending on the Israeli embassy, with many also gathering outside the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. As much as we might value free expression in this country, these anti-Israel protests must be condemned and confronted in the strongest terms. While we should avoid a police crackdown on protesters, who may well be sincere in their desire to see an independent Palestinian state, a forceful case must be made that Hamas is the aggressor here, not Israel, and that Israel has a right to defend herself in the same way as any other nation would do. This is a war fought not between two states, but between two ideologies and ways of life. Israel stands for the ideals of liberty, democracy, and universalism, the idea of the nation state itself. In contrast, Hamas do not care for an independent Palestinian nation-state. Their aim is for an Islamic state without Jews. This is why we must show our solidarity with Israel and condemn the horrific attacks on her people. In Britain we must also not be afraid to call out and confront the twin evils of anti-Semitism and Islamist Jihadism. Jews in Britain will not be safe until we ditch the identity politics and purge this evil from our society. Those who glorify terrorism must be face the consequences of the law. Those who hate Israel and oppose our universalist way of life must be shown the door. If we do not stand up for our societal values, then our country will be vulnerable to the most extreme voices and ideologies.
At the current time, a renewed case must be made for national sovereignty and borders. Borders matter, especially for Israel; and when a border is crossed by an enemy then a nation has every right to pursue that enemy back across that border and to kill them. For Israel this will look like an invasion and reoccupation of Gaza with the aim of rescuing hostages and extinguishing the terrorist threat. This will not be good for the people of Gaza, and many people will die. In the densely populated Gaza Strip, Hamas hide their ammunition and weapons inside or underneath civilian-occupied buildings, meaning that difficult moral and strategic decisions will have to be made.
Those who argue for unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank should take note; since unilaterally withdrawing from Gaza in 2005, involving the evacuation and forceful eviction of Israeli settlements, Gaza has been taken over by Hamas terrorist bend on the destruction of Israel. It has indeed been a massive failure, weakening Israeli security for zero gain, resulting in the situation we have now. For anyone still morally torn on the Israel-Hamas War, keep this in mind; if the Israelis stop fighting then their is no Israel. If Hamas stop fighting then there is peace in the Middle East.
Hamas Covenant [Excerpt] (jewishvirtuallibrary.org)