A real ‘humanitarian pause’

If there is one thing that has rapidly become clear in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, it is that somehow, the world is being shown once more just how it has never learned from the horrors of Hitler's time.

We thought that after something as violent, cruel, and bloody as that era, people would be more accepting of each other. But that is just another Pollyanna mindset that will continue to exist only in fiction books — an unattainable dream still.

Reality is harsh — much more complex to swallow. We should have gotten a clue from some of the most famous modern-day music, which colors the airwaves with curses, that some things will remain the same for a long time, perhaps forever.

The plight of Israel, for one, is a stinging example of human degradation. With the continued bloodshed in Gaza, people everywhere are learning the story behind this long-standing conflict that has plagued the people of Israel since the time of Moses.

"It's not Israel at fault here at all," one person said at a lunch yesterday where attendees talked about the Catholic Christmas season. "They have been under attack for a very long time now."

Another observed: "Hamas has really made use of social media to further its cause." People should be able to tell the truth from misinformation, she added.

"Apparently, they teach Palestinians to hate Jews," said another, quoting Kazim Hafeez, founder of The Israel Campaign, who shares his story titled, "I was born to hate Jews," online.

Given that this is a big root of the problem in this war, another question begs to be answered: are you for a ceasefire?

A "humanitarian pause," they call it, one that people sympathizing with the affected populace support.

Asked what their position is in this matter, the Israeli ambassador to the United States explained firmly that such a "pause" may give Hamas time to "re-arm" or strategize further, which one supposes would, of course, lead to more loss of lives.

As the State of Israel has stated: "The savage attacks perpetrated by Palestinian terrorist groups on 7 October and since then unquestionably constitute severe violations of international law, often amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity. They include the slaughter of over 1,400 Israelis and foreign citizens, the wounding of over 5,500, widespread acts of torture and maiming, burning alive, beheading, rape, and sexual violence, mutilation of corpses, the abduction of at least 247 hostages (including infants, entire families, persons with disabilities and Holocaust survivors), the indiscriminate firing of thousands of rockets, and the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields.

"Some of these crimes may also constitute genocide, as they are carried out with the intent to destroy in whole or part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group in furtherance of Hamas's declared genocidal agenda. Israel continues to face indiscriminate firing of rockets from Gaza and repeated attempts to infiltrate Israel to murder more Israelis, while the hostages taken by Hamas remain without ICRC visits or communication with the outside world.

"In relative terms, taking into account the size of Israel's population, the scope of the attack launched on 7 October is equivalent to the 9/11 attacks many multiple times over. Israel has the right, and indeed the obligation, to defend its citizens and territory by taking all legitimate measures to secure the release of the hostages and neutralize the threat it is facing. This threat is both grave and immediate: some Israeli communities lie meters away from the border, and hundreds of thousands of Israelis live within kilometers of Gaza.

"In these circumstances, Israel is both entitled and compelled to act so as to deny Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza the capacity to continue attacking its citizens and territory."

For now, a real "humanitarian pause" — where people truly are holding off on hating and concentrating instead on being humane — must wait.