Today my heart is shattered. I read the news from the Middle East and feel sick, angry, and helpless when I contemplate the senseless and barbaric massacre perpetrated by [ HAMAS / ISRAEL ] against innocent [ ISRAELIS / PALESTINIANS ].
As heartbreaking as it has been to view the images of dead and injured, the destroyed neighborhoods, grieving families and displaced people in the aftermath of the inexcusable [ ISRAELI BOMBING / HAMAS MASSACRE ] it has been equally appalling to discover that so many of my friends and colleagues – people I know and respect – are actually justifying the actions of [ ISRAEL / HAMAS ] while downplaying the outrageous atrocities committed by [ HAMAS / ISRAEL ].
Don’t they understand the simple, incontestable facts: That the [ JEWS / ARABS ] have lived on this land for generations and are not going anywhere? That [ ISRAELIS / PALESTINIANS ] have the right to live in peace and to protect themselves and their families? That the root cause of this conflict is clearly the [ ISRAELI OPPRESSION / PALESTINIAN TERRORISM ] that has inevitably resulted in ongoing [ PALESTINIAN TERRORISM / ISRAELI OPPRESSION ]? And that most [ ISRAELIS / PALESTINIANS ] want peace but are up against the ruthless ideology of [ ETHNO-NATIONALIST SETTLER COLONIALISM / VIOLENT ISLAMIC EXTREMISM ] that has as its goal the displacement or eradication of the entire [JEWISH / ARAB ] population and will never accept a [ JEWISH / PALESTINIAN ] state as legitimate?
Sadly, most people aren’t learning the truth because the media is so hopelessly biased in favor of [ ISRAEL / PALESTINE ]. This media complicity not only justifies [ HAMAS’S / ISRAEL’S ] war crimes but has helped to unleash a wave of [ ANTISEMITISM / ISLAMOPHOBIA ] across the globe. It speaks volumes that those who so sanctimoniously take to the streets to condemn [ ISRAEL / HAMAS ] are not even willing to acknowledge the [ HAMAS MASSACRE / ISRAELI BOMBING ] that [ PRECEDED / FOLLOWED ] it. Surely an innocent [ ISRAELI / PALESTINIAN ] life is of equal value to a [ PALESTINIAN / ISRAELI ] one. Apparently not to the supporters of [ ISRAEL / PALESTINE ].
In the end, there is only one solution to the problem: [ AN IMMEDIATE UNILATERAL CEASE FIRE AND WITHDRAWAL BY ISRAEL / AN IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF THE HOSTAGES AND SURRENDER BY HAMAS ]. Anything short of this will merely ensure the perpetuation of the cycle of violence, fueled by hundreds of millions of dollars in weapons from [ THE US / IRAN ], that seems to have no end and result in nothing but suffering.
Until then, I will stand on the side of justice, humanity, and freedom. I stand with [ ISRAEL / PALESTINE ].