Today is My Birthday: Why am I not celebrating
Our common God values the lives of Jews, Muslims, and Christians equally — may we honor this in our everyday lives, especially during these times of conflict in Israel and Palestine.
Today, October 13th, is my birthday, but I am not celebrating.
The recent brutal attacks by Hamas militants on Israeli civilians, including women and children, have no moral or ethical excuse in a civilized world and are deeply condemnable. Israel, in return, has launched counter-attacks into Gaza on Hamas targets — also killing innocent civilians, including women and children. Israel has a right to defend itself — but not at the expense of significant civilian casualties. Violence, whether by state or non-state participants, can never serve as a pathway to peace and security.
The call of a Hamas senior leader to “attack every Jew possible in all the world and kill them” and the comments of the Israeli Defense Minister, “Gaza will burn” and “We are imposing a complete siege on [Gaza]. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel“ — all these remarks are abhorrent and smack of collective punishment.
The United States was reportedly negotiating a peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel. It seems that the attack by Hamas on Israel may have been timed to derail this potential pact. At the same time, over seven decades of attrition of Palestinian land and resources (water, electricity, food, movement) has led to an open-air prison and apartheid state for Palestinians.
The decade-and-a-half apartheid-like containment program implemented by Israeli security forces in the Palestinian Territories has resulted in open-air prisons, blocking food, and control of electricity, leading to disturbing malnutrition and mortality rates — this, too, has no moral or ethical excuse in a civilized world and is deeply condemnable. Tactics towards ethnic cleansing, akin to apartheid tactics used in South Africa, can also never be a pathway to peace and security.
Today, people of faith and conscience worldwide are deeply concerned over the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Israel and Palestine. Over 1,300 Israelis and more than 1,800 Palestinians have been killed in the last few days. Thousands of civilians have been injured on both sides. Missile and air strikes by both sides abound. Israel has now ordered more than 1 million residents of northern Gaza to move out within 24 hours, further deepening the humanitarian crisis in Gaza — and rumors of a ground invasion of Gaza by Israeli security forces are rampant.
Hamas continues to launch rockets into Israel, with a population of over 9 million spread over 8,600 square miles, and holds Israeli and US hostages. Israeli security forces continue decades of occupation and apartheid, launch counter-rockets into Gaza, and have announced a complete blockade of Gaza with no electricity, food, or water for a population of over 2 million in about 140 square miles (which has already been under a blockade for 15 years by the Israeli army). How long will the world allow these heinous acts of Hamas and Israeli security forces to continue?
Just as Israeli citizens and Jews cannot be held responsible for the actions of the Israeli security forces, Palestinian citizens and Muslims cannot be held accountable for the actions of Hamas. Furthermore, the brutal acts of Hamas do not represent Palestinians, just as the inhuman acts of the Israeli security forces do not represent Israelis.
The asymmetry of the conflict in Israel and Palestine needs to be recognized. Since 2008, over 3,700 Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israeli security forces and state-sponsored settlers, and over 300 Israelis have been killed by Hamas and other militant groups, as per the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (https://www.ochaopt.org/data/casualties). With the backing of Western nations, the military power of Israel far exceeds that of the Palestinian Territories.
The US government has provided much-needed assistance to Israel with the anti-missile Iron Dome system, saving thousands of innocent Israeli civilians from the heinous attacks by Hamas. However, the United States government’s “dog whistle” of letting Israeli security forces do all it wants to do in Gaza further fuels the loss of innocent Palestinian lives. This licenses Israeli security forces to kill Palestinians under the pretext of defending themselves against Hamas. Such morality by our government is akin to the treachery of Palestinians. “The land of the free and the home of the brave” must do better to live up to its moral authority of standing up for righteousness and all those who are oppressed.
All parties must work towards the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages taken by Hamas. We must call upon the US government to aid all those suffering on both sides of this conflict and use diplomacy for a ceasefire so civilians can be saved from further suffering and death despite political posturing by American politicians that have left us unable to respond to an urgent need. And we must call upon all stakeholders in the conflict to work towards a just peace through diplomatic means rather than war — which will provide much-needed security to Israelis and Palestinians.
The governments of the United States, France, United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy issued a joint statement on October 9, expressing much-needed solidarity with the suffering of Israelis. Still, they failed even to mention the suffering of Palestinians in the current conflict. Such double standards need to end. Are Palestinians not as human as Israelis? Are Palestinians the children of a lesser God?
Jews, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and many others believe in the same God. At this time, faith communities must come together as peacemakers so that just peace can prevail in Israel and Palestinian Territories. Our common God values the lives of Jews, Muslims, and Christians equally — may we honor this in our everyday lives, especially during these times of conflict in Israel and Palestine.
