As a follower of Christ, we are a religion that above all preaches love and peace. None of us are perfect. I believe that in Jesus’ name we must call out corruption and evil very loudly and very boldly. My approach may be too much for some. I do not mean to offend, but I will in order to get a point across.
But more than anything, we must speak out against the death of the innocent. We are compassionate and sympathetic on behalf of life. A recent comment made by a rapper Macklemore really spoke to my concerns.
I am not big on celebrities making political messages, but his most important point is that people against the violence in Gaza should never be labeled as “anti-Semitic.” This is the most foul form of war propaganda imaginable. It is designed to shut people down, stop them from speaking their conscience, and keep the war machine going.
We saw a similar situation manifest after the 9/11 terror attacks. Before 9/11, Americans voted for President George W. Bush because he advocated for a humble foreign policy and would keep our troops home. After 9/11, everything changed, and Republicans changed on a dime. They called for a totalitarian government, endless war abroad, and the evisceration of our civil liberties and constitutional rights. Everyone who saw what a horrible trajectory America was embarking upon was “with the terrorists” and bullied into silence. Our nation suffered immeasurably as a result.
After the attacks against Israel by Hamas, we see the same thing on a global scale. Before this attack happened, the Middle East was relatively peaceful. Things were far from great, with millions of Palestinians being held in a concentration camp in Gaza under heinous conditions, but there was no real appetite for an escalation of war. With one terror attack, that all changed overnight, and millions of supporters of the state of Israel demanded blood in the fury after watching their people be attacked in unprecedented fashion. And people who care calling for a tempered response are being falsely labeled as “anti-Semites,” all because they don’t want the cycle of violence to persist that will only enflame more people and cause terror to persist in the region and abroad.
I understand the impulse to want revenge. No doubt, the radical Muslim butchers in Hamas wish to harm Jewish people and bring an end to the state of Israel. This group is openly anti-Semitic and deserves to be condemned by all. My relatives have dealt with radical Muslim butchers in Iraq, and we know exactly how cruel they can be. But calling for more war crimes and more vengeance will only make the situation worse. This is borne out in recent history, as escalations in bombing campaigns have backfired terribly and only empowered radical Muslims.
Right now, Americans are sending billions to the state of Israel with direct military aid that is seen with the bombs dropping in Gaza. We have seen hospitals, schools and churches blown to bits, with thousands of innocent people being brutalized in what is trivialized as collateral damage. There are the excuses to justify this. The supporters of the war crimes say Hamas control centers are in the churches, schools and the hospitals. Even if that is the case, is that worth killing so many innocent people? We as Christians cannot justify these brutal atrocities without being immense hypocrites.
For every Hamas leader that is supposedly killed in a hospital, school or church, there are normal Palestinians who see their loved ones blown to bits, screaming in terror as their lives are extinguished by U.S.-backed missiles. These individuals are radicalized and become far more likely to endorse the radicalism of groups like Hamas. They have nothing to lose, as they know their families or themselves could be targeted in the next round of hellfire strikes. This has been described by the CIA as “blowback,” and U.S./Israeli foreign policy has been creating tons of blowback over the course of many decades.
Listen to the great Ron Paul speak about the nature of “Blowback” in our nation’s foreign policy:
Another thing that must be examined is how the attacks happened in the first place. Israel has perhaps the most sophisticated national defense in the world. How did the immense failure happen to allow the Hamas attacks to occur? How did all of these agencies fail in such a coordinated manner? Is this incredible incompetence or is there a deeper and darker agenda afoot? This is reminiscent of when NORAD defense systems were diverted to allow the 9/11 attacks to occur. We cannot trust the intelligence community in Israel any more than we can trust the intelligence community in the U.S. They are in essence one and the same.
The defense industry is raking in billions upon billions in profits because of the conflict in Israel. They feast while the rest of us famine. They cash out on death and destruction. This is the military-industrial complex that was referenced by former President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his farewell address. This is who the true enemy is – not the Israelis or the Palestinians, not the Jewish people or Muslims or Christians. There are forces bigger than what is presented to us in the media with their dehumanizing propaganda. They want us divided. They want us to hate each other. They don’t want us to unite against the systemic forces that are enslaving us and killing us.
Hearing words like ‘Anti-Semitic’ used against anyone who criticizes bombing campaigns in Gaza is disgusting. Similarly, slurs like ‘Islamophobic’ for those who call out Hamas or radical Muslims is abhorrent. We should be calling for peace, and as Americans, that begins with stopping the foreign aid spigot that fuels conflict in the region. It is time for conservatives to be conservative and support limited government with regards to foreign aid. It is time to remove the U.S. support for militarism in the region, regardless of which side we support on the issue. This is the only way that peace can prevail, as the interests behind U.S. foreign policy make billions because of more war and are heavily incentivized to promulgate these policies.
If we don’t reserve course, where will this end? With regime change in Syria? We saw when Bashar al-Assad was nearly removed from Syria years ago. It was a brutal civil war, and radical terror groups like ISIS filled the void. Will we have war with Iran? Bloodthirsty neocon savages like Ben Shapiro have been salivating at the thought. It would be as much of a disaster if not more so than our failed wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Are we going to support even more brutal war crimes in Yemen because the Houthis are on the side of the Palestinians? Our actions have consequences, and unfortunately, the reality of the situation is lost in the haze of the war propaganda.
The only solution is for more people to voice their opinion, reject the war propaganda and call for peace in the region. Anyone who is falsely called “Anti-Semitic” for standing for peace should not do so lying down. They should strike back against these vicious slurs meant to marginalize people who want the insanity to end. Having empathy for Palestinians, some of whom are innocent Christians, being caught up in these hellfire strikes is the Christian thing to do. It does not mean you are anti-Semitic, and it does not make you aligned with Hamas. It makes you a human being whose compassion hasn’t been snuffed out by war propaganda. I will begin by my voice heard, regardless of who I may offend in the process. I am happy to engage in dialogue with anyone.
