Cowardice and Courage: Hamas’ Leaders are Cowards, Those Who Oppose Hamas With Their Words When it is Socially Difficult to do so are Courageous
October 15, 2023 - Issue #18
Israel will do what it must to eviscerate Hamas and forever end its ability to kill and terrorize Israelis. No country that has been victimized by a carefully planned attack utilizing an army of degenerates that butchered babies, murdered 1,300 people and saw 150 more hostages carted off to the dungeons of Gaza would do less. Israel’s goals are no different than President Roosevelt’s announced goal during World War II—Germany and Japan’s unconditional surrender—goals which gave little consideration to resulting civilian casualties. But Israel’s methods are different than the allies in World War II and far more compassionate. The IDF has consistently used multiple measures that reduce its military effectiveness but limit civilian casualties.
In opposite, Hamas does everything it can to cause its fellow Gazans to suffer the consequences of its perfidy. Proof of that is that Hamas’s rank and file hide like rats in deep, protected tunnels while benefiting from those not so privileged that Hamas depends on, and in fact tries to force, to remain in their homes as human shields. Proven by its placement of armaments and forces in schools, mosques, and other civilian institutions. Proven again in the last day when Hamas blocked many Gazans trying to flee to southern Gaza per the request of the IDF. A request the IDF made with the express purpose of saving human life.
This Hamas conduct, its disregard for Palestinian life, is cowardice to the nth degree. Fighting to the last Gazan only shows how little Hamas cares about the people they rule—certainly not how much. How it values Hamas lives over noncombatants. Truly, it is only in the deaths of noncombatants in Gaza does Hamas see value in its people because it hopes their deaths will impact world opinion. It is Israel that wants these people to live—it is Hamas who hopes they will die.
But there is an alternative path if courage rather than cowardice ruled in Gaza.
If they were courageous, Hamas’ leadership would surrender. Surrender would save its people from suffering. Surrender would save remaining infrastructure. Surrender would be the right thing to do. Fighting on is not noble. It is cowardly.
Demanding Hamas’ surrender is also what the United Nations should be doing, what NGO’s should be doing, and even what Palestinians in the West Bank and all who care for the Palestinian people should be doing. Everyday Hamas lingers makes clear its lack of regard for, or failure to recognize, the sanctity of Jewish life, the rule of law, and the right of Jews to live free of, and fight back against, the terror that has hounded them for two thousand years.
But Hamas will not surrender.
It will not because Hamas is a cowardly organization. It spews hatred to further its goals, wages war on the defenseless, and its leaders lead from behind and below—not in front. Nor is Hamas so concerned with Palestinian rights. Hamas massacred its own people to gain power. It indoctrinates its school children with maniacal hatred in order to create waves of brainwashed cadres willing to die so that Hamas’ leaders will remain in power. And Hamas espouses a doctrine so similar to ISIS that for all practical purposes it is ISIS.
Nor for a minute think that Hamas’ actions were an inevitable byproduct of the issues bedeviling Israel and Palestinians for a hundred years as apologists for Hamas’ savagery would like you to believe. Issues that should have been resolved long ago but have not, primarily because of Palestinian refusal to accept the existence of Israel and negotiate a compromise. Instead, consider the excerpt below from an article Jonathan Spyer wrote for the Australian on October 13, 2023. Spyer is a courageous Israeli analyst and author who both snuck into Lebanon after the 2006 war to write a book about what he observed in that country and then did the same in Syria many years later when ISIS was running rampant. Courage he has.
Preliminary Assessment:
The Hamas offensive against the Israeli communities surrounding Gaza is a pivotal moment in a war that has been going on for some years. It's a mistake to see this as another chapter in the long and interminable 'Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This error derives from the long habit of viewing the Israelis and Palestinians as part of a closed circle, detached from trends and power structures of the broader Middle East. But what erupted out of the Gaza Strip on October 7, spreading massacre and horror has nothing to do with the 'occupation', the 'two state solution' and all the tired terminology of that dispute. It represents the combination of two powerful and related forces.
The first of these, coming from below, is the sustained potency of political Islam, or 'Islamism,' as it is sometimes termed, of both Sunni and Shia varieties. Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, to give it its full name, is the local representative of a series of political/military movements stretching along the contiguous space from Egypt up to Iraq, which for better or worse appear to be able to mobilize the support of a significant mass of their respective populations in the service of political violence. Unfortunately, at ground level, these movements have no real competitors among the populations of the countries in question. Where they are not in power, it's because either a stronger non-Arab or non-Muslim force prevents this (Israel, the Kurdish enclaves in Syria and Iraq), or because a stronger non-Islamist Arab authoritarian force represses them by force (Egypt, Jordan).
The second element, coming from above, without which Hamas would be little more than a local nuisance, is state support. The Islamic Republic of Iran is the element which provides Hamas's missile array, instructs its cadres in the home grown building of rockets, and which almost certainly provided the space and the concealment needed for Hamas to train and prepare for October 7. For what purpose? Iran is committed to a long war strategy against Israel, which is intended to end with the Jewish state's demise and collapse. This objective is pursued through the establishment or sponsorship of proxy political and military organizations along Israel's borders, and the equipping of these groups with extensive military capacities, enabling Iran to carry on an ongoing military campaign against Israel, once-removed. The question of the precise Iranian role on the day of October 7 remains open to question. But the Iran-provided capacities to Hamas, and the role of the movement in Teheran's broader regional strategy are not.
Now, let’s consider a type of courage different than physical bravery such as Spyer’s or that of those fighting Israel’s wars.
Today, I want to highlight courage found in the expression of words. Speaking out may be hard against champions of Hamas, or even those that naively, cunningly, or even just mistakenly see a moral justification or inevitably for Hamas slaughtering human beings as a policy. You might have friendships that could be jeopardized if you speak your mind. Loved ones too might feel distress. Or you might run a business that could be harmed by those that will no longer contract for your goods and services after hearing your truth. But that is how Jews become victims—by failing to nip hatred’s tendrils in the bud. Or falling for the idea that haters are rational rather than bloodthirsty. That haters somehow would embrace compromise rather than celebrate carnage.
I understand the desire to placate, the hope to find common ground, the fear of making waves. All of us share those sentiments. Me too. But today, if you cannot speak up against what happened October 7, loudly and resolutely, stating your abhorrence without mincing words or countenancing anyone’s moral equivalent argument, then when can you? What next will you ignore?
And perhaps more importantly, who and what are you if you do not—as an individual or a business—in a community setting or a family gathering? None of us should fear speaking our mind. Israeli soldiers are swallowing their fears while preparing to go into Gaza in defense of Jews everywhere. Today, Israelis remain determined to stay in their homes and country to defend their land. They have closed ranks despite the bitter political battles prior to October 7. Three thousand struggle to recover from their wounds—many of which never will. Somewhere in Gaza , 150 are shivering in fear. And the life energy of 1,300 people—each with their own stories—have been snuffed out.
So, we should close ranks too. The least we can each do is to take a stand with our loved ones, friends, acquaintances, and business associates by making clear moral statements against Hamas on behalf of those whose lives were changed forever. Those that love you, care for you, or value business and other relationships with you will respect you for being speaking your mind honestly. Those that don’t—well maybe that is a harbinger of other problems that require addressing. To those that wish to address other issues—such as judicial reform, resolution of Palestinian issues, etc.—make clear they are valid concerns which are nuanced and have no easy answers and there can and should be a time for that, but not now. Not in the wake of what happened. Not until Hamas is no more.
Now is not a time to mince words.
To all my readers. For the last few days, I have been sending this newsletter out daily. I will slow the pace to every two or three days now, unless events require otherwise. I will also devote special editions to rebutting articles or opinion pieces I find especially objectionable that have wide circulation.
And, to those who have recently become subscribers—I thank you so much. And, to those who have been with me from early on, you formed the base from which views of this newsletter has increased—from three to tenfold depending on the issue. And so I thank you very much too.
Collectively, we have a job to do. To do our small part to give Israel the space and time to eradicate Hamas. And to help ensure that Israel survives.
And to all of you receiving this bi-monthly newsletter, please write to me about what you think could be improved. While normally this newsletter exclusively focuses on Hezbollah, October 7, 2023, mandates that for now I do something different. And, of course, unsubscribe if you would rather not get this. But, if you think it worthwhile, please forward this newsletter to anybody who you think would be interested in reading it.
Hamas Top Secret Documents Reveal Plan to Massacre, Kidnap Children—Written by Yuvan Barnea for the Jerusalem Post—October 15, 2023. So much for the nonsense spewed by Hamas’ apologists.
Daily Update: Israel at War October 15, 2023: Written by Mayan Sarnat for Alma—October 15, 2023. A concise summary of events as of 6:00 PM Israel time on October 15, 2023.
This Druze First Sergeant heroically Defends Nahal Oz Base—Written by Zvicka Klein for the Jerusalem Post—October 15, 2023 - This is an article about courage.
Israel’s Struggle with Hezbollah—A War Without End is now available in eBook and hardback format on Amazon and IngramSpark. This compelling narrative explores Hezbollah’s origins and cancerous growth, traces Israel’s response, and reveals Israel’s present readiness to meet Hezbollah’s challenge.
Cliff Sobin
Important Link—Alma Research and Education Center: Understanding the Security Challenges on Israel’s Northern Border