This article was written November 25th, 2023
On October seventh of this year, Hamas attacked Israel. They stormed a music festival and invaded countless homes, murdering an estimated 1,200 people. Hamas took 240 hostages, including children and American citizens.
The Palestinian terror organization was elected to govern the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip and West Bank in 2006. Hamas, an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya (Islamic Resistance Movement), has not been quiet about their antisemitism, in fact, it is laid out in their founding charter: “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: ‘O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him’” (Covenant of the Hamas, Article 7).
Hamas has spent the past several years building tunnels under Gaza, including a recently uncovered 55 meter-long tunnel in the Al-Shifa Hospital. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has claimed to have found weapons in this hospital as well. The IDF began their large-scale invasion of Gaza on October 27 with the purpose of eradicating Hamas.
After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in WWI, the empire’s land went under French and British control, but the Allies agreed that the land should be allowed to become independent. The League of Nations issued a mandate turning the defeated land into geopolitical entities who would eventually gain independence (Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon). Palestine is the geographic label given to the land of Judea after being conquered by the Romans. Per the 1920 League of Nations mandate, it was to become a national home for the Jewish people, because the Jews are considered the indigenous people of the land.
Israel declared independence in May 1948 with borders that included all of Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and Gaza according to the mandate of Palestine’s borders. Immediately, Israel was invaded by five Arab armies, and Jordan seized parts of Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria: the West Bank. Per international law, their seizure of this land did not legally change Israel’s borders. The Jews living here were expelled, but in 1949 there was an agreed armistice. In 1967, Israel freed the occupied land.
The Palestinian authority was established in 1994 by the Oslo Accords, and operates independently from Israel. On five separate occasions, Israel has offered independence to the territory, but they have turned down the offers.
The war is developing quickly. Qatar has helped broker a deal between Hamas and Israel for a temporary ceasefire and hostage release on Friday, November 24. This was extended. So far, 69 hostages have been released by Hamas since Friday.
There are mixed opinions regarding the future of Israel and Palestine after the war, with some continuing to hope for a two-state solution, while others believe that the situation is beyond repair.
There has been a massive surge of public support for Palestine in the United States, with quotes like “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” trending on social media. Examples such as this one display ignorance of the situation, as this phrase calls for the extermination of the Jews, and it has been used by Hamas. In fact, US Representative for Michigan, Rashida Tlaib, was censured by the White House for promoting this phrase on social media.
