Hypocrisy: Thy Name Is Europe

This week, the Israeli Knesset finally voted to commit itself fully to ending this war with Hamas by taking more military action to control Gaza. Despite what the majority of mainstream media has been reporting, the Israelis were very clear that this is not going to be an occupation of Gaza. Rather, Israel's goals are to entirely remove Hamas from any position of leadership in Gaza; to demilitarize the Gaza Strip so as to avoid future events like Oct. 7: create pressure on Hamas so that the hostages are released; and to create an environment in Gaza that would allow Gazan civilians to create their own successful government that would ultimately be a partner with Israel and the Abraham Accords.

Netanyahu was clear that the intention is to follow President Trump's dream of making Gaza into a French Riviera of the Middle East. Israel was clear that this process would include first controlling Gaza so as to remove Hamas, having an international coalition govern Gaza as it grows and develops its own governmental society, and then for Gazans to be able to develop their own land into a free and successful society. 

We must all remember what preceded this plan, going back 20 years. In 2005, Israel dismantled all 21 Israeli settlements in Gaza and unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip with the hopes that the people there would develop a free and prosperous culture. But they didn't. They physically destroyed the infrastructure of buildings and greenhouses that the Israelis had built for them, and they chose to elect Hamas as their leaders. In 2006, Hamas was elected as the majority party in Gaza and took control, which Fatah disputed. In 2007, the “War of Brothers” between Fatah and Hamas led to Hamas’ complete control of Gaza, and they have been the elected leaders of Gaza ever since… devoted to not only eradicating Israel, but to murdering every Jew on the planet, as clearly stated in the Hamas Charter. 

And then, Hamas performed the horrors of Oct. 7; murdering, torturing, raping, and kidnapping Israeli civilians. They've continued for almost 2 years to keep and torture hostages; launched over 30,000 rockets at Israel in these past 22 months; used hospitals, schools, and humanitarian aid buildings as military bases; and used children and innocents as human shields, sacrificing those innocents to protect their terrorist activities.

And what did Europe do during the past 22 months? It acted the same way that it did during the Holocaust: they remained silent. It did not demand that Hamas release the hostages. In fact, Europeans were more concerned with getting “humanitarian aid” to Hamas than they were about condemning this truly evil terrorist organization. Each time that Israel applied military pressure and Hamas was willing to start releasing hostages, the leadership of Europe and the international community weakened Israel's position by placing demands upon Israel as opposed to demanding anything from Hamas. And if the goal of Europe was to stop the war, all that has ever been needed is for Hamas to release all of the hostages (and let us always remember that while Europe condemns Israel for defending itself, the kidnapping of civilians is not only against International law, but against every sense of morality, let alone the rape and torture they have done to Israeli civilians).

We must be clear: Europe and the international community (including the U.S. under the Biden administration) consistently supported Hamas and castigated Israel. They helped sustain this organization, which proudly performed such heinous acts, and condemned Israel for wanting to defend itself.

And now, when Israel, with the support of the Trump administration, is committing itself to removing the ugly evilness of Hamas from the land of Gaza, Europe protests. It did not protest when Jews were being killed, tortured, raped, and kidnapped. It did not protest over the 30,000 rockets that Hamas has launched into Israel. It did not even protest after hearing from hostages who had been released about the horrors, rapes, and torture that are part of our daily practices by Hamas.

No, the international community was silent.  But now, it finally chooses to speak.

Now, when Israel commits to working towards creating a free society in Gaza, Europe protests. As Israel exercises its right of self-defense, Europe protests. Now that Israel is willing to fully enter into this defensive war against Hamas, with the goal of both defending Israel for the future and helping Gazans create a new government that will be peaceful and prosperous, the international community protests. Although it remained silent for almost two years, now, it protests against Israel in favor of supporting these terrorists.

Within hours of Israel's decision to work towards ending this war and creating a free Gaza that is released from the stranglehold of the Hamas terrorists, the international community vocally condemned Israel. Great Britain, France, Turkey, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, New Zealand, and Australia have all pressured the United Nations to have an emergency meeting to condemn Israel. They have each individually all attacked Israel for determining that the only way to peace is to remove Hamas entirely from the equation, and in so doing, help the citizens of Gaza create their own free and prosperous society: a Riviera of the Middle East (for those unaware, the beaches of Gaza are some of the most beautiful in the world).

None of these countries pressured the United Nations to condemn Hamas after October 7, or at any time since then. Not once did any of these nations even recognize the evil that is systemic within Hamas, as demonstrated by their consistent actions for almost two years. At the same time, they have been silent as Israel has been defending itself against an average of over 50 rockets every single day for almost two years. Now, they find their voice?

Hypocrisy, thy name is Europe.

There are many ways of responding to the hypocritical actions of Europe, and there are certainly many impolite things that I would like to say about this international community, which is silent in the face of the evil of Hamas but vocal in its condemnation of Israel defending itself. But the words of Zev Jabotinsky almost 100 years ago are as good an expression as any of what Israel’s response should be to these hypocrites.

We are a people as all other peoples; we do not have any intentions to be better than the rest.  We do not have to account to anybody, we are not to sit for anybody's examination and nobody is old enough to call on us to answer.  We are what we are, we are good for ourselves, we will not change, nor do we want to.

Israel has always sought peace with its neighbors and wishes for more nations to become part of the Abraham Accords. But Hamas seeks the destruction of not only Israel and not only the death of all Jews, but the destruction of the entire Western world. It proudly admits that this is its goal, and Israel is only the front line in this war. Israel recognizes this truth, even if Europe is still oblivious to it.

In the last century, the international community was silent during the Holocaust, and six million Jews were murdered as a result of their silence. We will not let that ever happen again. Europe's silence against the evils of Hamas and its protestations against Israel can never be the determining factor of Israel’s actions. This hypocritical international community, and all those who support the evils of Hamas in any way, must understand that the phrase “Never Again” means exactly what it says.

And "Never Again" is now.