I honestly don’t think I have been this excited for nearly two years. Some of the best news since the inception of the Israel-Gaza conflict has begun to emerge. Thousands of Gazans have taken to the streets multiple days in a row, demanding the ouster of Hamas. They realize that the resumption of the Israeli offensive could destroy the little that’s left in the region, and they know that the terrorist entity is to blame.
These protests are the first glimmer of hope for ending this war. So, why is the media downplaying the story?
The reason is simple – the overwhelming majority of the world’s news outlets have drunk Hamas’s Kool-Aid. They continue to believe every last bit of propaganda they have been fed. Even in the face of demonstrable evidence to the contrary, many in the West continue to propagate the lie that Israel is the aggressor, the cause of the conflict.
There is a meme circulating on social media that depicts this perfectly.
A split screen shows an anti-Israel campus protester on one side and a Hamas terrorist on the other. The activist says, “They claim you raped women,” and the terrorist responds, “We did rape women.” The activist continues, “They claim you burned babies.” The terrorist replies, “We did burn babies.” The back-and-forth continues until the activist finally exclaims, “Oh no, they got to you, too!”
These uprisings must be embraced because it is the best of the remaining outcomes.
Hamas has agreed to Egypt’s proposal for a ceasefire but this was most likely done only in order to quash the popular uprising. In the end, the terrorist regime will desperately cling to the last hostage because they believe it’s their ticket to survival. Relocating the population of Gaza is also a possibility, but far from ideal. The local citizens taking back control of the region is the best possible solution.
This uprising will not solve all the issues Israel faces. As the returned hostages have reported time and again, the overwhelming majority of the population is radicalized. There has not been any account of even one righteous Gazan. Not a single Israeli was helped in captivity. But this is why the uprising is of the utmost necessity. The only people who can change their toxic culture are the Gazans themselves.
BUT THEY won’t be able to do it alone. Those who have chosen to protest have put themselves in grave danger. The price for defying a terrorist regime is more than likely death. The world must rally behind those who have the courage to speak up and let them know that this is their only future, as well as the correct moral path.
Why Israel must support the uprising in Gaza
This strong show of support must start in Israel. We must demonstrate to the world that our goal has never been to eradicate our neighbors. The aim of this war has always been to uproot the terrorists at our gates. And as much as we thought it a pipe dream, a groundswell of popular support against the governing body in the region is a huge step in the right direction.
The citizens of Israel have not been in a place to support a movement like this for some time. The body politic has been fractured on what the next move should be to win this war. There are those who demand that the government do everything to bring home the hostages first, while others believe that due to the stalled negotiations, military action is our only option.
Supporting the uprising can unify our country once again. Just as released hostage Omer Shem Tov told President Isaac Herzog, our division not only undermines our nation, but it strengthens Hamas. We can all agree that the terrorist regime must fall, and supporting the like-minded citizens of Gaza is the best way to do so.
This is an instance where Israel can once again be a light unto the nations. We must take action and show the world the way to achieve the best outcome in this conflict. I can imagine a not-too-distant future where the people of Gaza throw off the shackles of their past and carve a new future for themselves.
This does not mean we should be naive or overly trusting of what comes next. But the internal correction for Gaza has the greatest potential for the coexistence we so desperately want and need.
The writer is a rabbi, wedding officiant, and mohel who performs britot (ritual circumcisions) and conversions in Israel and worldwide. Based in Efrat, he is the founder of Magen HaBrit, an organization protecting the practice of brit milah and the children who undergo it.