On October 7, 2023, war broke out again in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas. Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist group, launched a surprise attack and infiltrated Israel, killing 1200 people and injuring thousands more in a single day. Israeli children and babies were brutally murdered. Women were raped, killed, stripped naked, and then paraded around the city. They originally had around 240 hostages in horrible conditions. Israel and Hamas created a seven-day truce in exchange for hostages. Israel received eight hostages in exchange for Hamas receiving 30 terrorists.
So who and what is Hamas? Hamas is the largest Palestinian terrorist group. They consist of a general number of 22 to 25 thousand members. HAMAS is an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya, which translates to “Islamic Resistance Movement.”
According to the director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, their entire reason for existence is this: “The group is committed to armed resistance against Israel and the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state in Israel’s place.” This rises to the level of Nazi and Adolf Hitler antisemitism. Their entire goal is the total destruction and replacement of the Jewish race.
Now who are the Israeli people? The Israeli people are a race called the Jews. A misconception of the Jews is that they are a religion. While the Jewish people typically practice Judaism, the Jews are a race. So not all Jews are Jewish.
For centuries, Jews have been persecuted and massacred. Some massacre examples would be December 30, 1066, when a Muslim mob stormed the royal palace in Granada. This massacre killed more than one thousand Jewish families. The mob also captured and crucified Joseph Ibn Naghrela (The Jewish VIzier to the Berber King).
During the First Crusade wars involving Catholics and Muslims, thousands of Jews were killed. In the Spanish Expulsion of 1492, Spanish rulers issued that all Jews who refused to convert to Catholicism would be expelled from the country. Historians estimate about two hundred thousand were ousted and tens of thousands died trying to reach safety.
Lastly, the most recent historic event, the Holocaust was so recent that many Holocaust survivors are now being captured and killed at the hands of Hamas. Throughout the Holocaust, many Jews returned to Israel, and they were recognized as a state in the nineteenth century. Seventy-four years ago, Europe finally recognized Israel as their state with David Ben-Gurion as their first Prime Minister.
Lodi High School students and staff shared their takes on the matter. Social studies teacher Kelsie Barlow shared her thoughts: “The Israel and Hamas conflict is not a recent conflict. It spans in its essence, for hundreds of years, millennia. So we’re seeing just a flare-up of pre-existing tension. So when you’re thinking of the impact that it has had, the root cause, it’s easy for people to point to a more recent event, but it’s been brewing for a while.”
Barlow also shared her opinion on Hamas using civilians as human shields during this war: “Hamas does have their bunkers underneath there. And they’re using these populated areas as a shield. So they want to hide under a hospital because they don’t think Israel is going to actually bomb a hospital. And so if you’re going to blame Israel, you also have to blame Hamas.”
On the opposite side of argument, social studies teacher JP Fassbender said, “The argument that I’ve heard from the Hamas and the Palestinians is that they have no choice because it’s the only tactic they have in what is basically what they say is occupation by the Israelis.”
In conclusion, the Israel and Hamas war is a horrible tragedy. Prayers are sent up to all the innocent lives that have been lost.
