The OLD Philosopher – John M. Miller
In the past couple of months, there have been an increasing number of demonstrations at college campuses throughout the United States. The students publicly display opposition to the conduct of the Israeli government in their war against the Hamas rulers of Gaza. Many Hamas soldiers have been killed, but the majority of the 34,000 casualties in Gaza have been civilians. Various news sources declare that two-thirds of the victims are women and children.
As everyone knows, this war was provoked by a surprise attack on Israeli settlements east of the high fence which divides the Gaza Strip from Israel. Twelve hundred Israelis were viciously slaughtered, including old people and babies. Many women were raped in the carefully planned assault.
No one except the most radical of the Palestinians approved the ferocity of the Hamas attack. But it is the overwhelming number of Gazans killed in response compared to the number of Israelis who died in the initial Hamas strike that has provoked the anger of the student demonstrators. By now almost thirty Gazans have been killed for every Israeli who died in the settlements.
It is not Israelis who have enacted this reprisal. It is the Israeli government that has ordered the continuous bombardment. More specifically it is the conservative ruling coalition of the Knesset, led by Prime Minister Netanyahu, that determined the appalling extent of the carnage. To date they have refused another ceasefire, let alone a truce.
One of the reasons for the Israeli Defense Force is continuing the war is to try to convince the Palestinians that there will never be a “two-state solution,” in which a new dividing line would be drawn between Palestine and Israel. Presumably the half-million Israelis in the occupied West Bank would abandon their settlements and move back into Israel.
To retain their power, the Likud-led coalition government feels they must keep fighting until Hamas is totally defeated. Probably that is a vainly hoped delusion. As long as the IDF keeps going, Hamas will keep going.
Perhaps the students oppose President Biden’s and the Congressional financial support of the IDF as much as that of the Knesset. Recently the UN took a vote to encourage a two-state solution. Everyone except the USA and a few small nations approved the concept, but the US sank it by our veto in the Security Council.
Opposition to the student demonstrations seems to be rising, in part because many suppose that antisemitism is being invoked. That may be true for a small minority of the students, but their opposition to the Israeli government is certainly not synonymous with antisemitism. It is a deliberate slur to imply that opposing the actions of the Jewish state is the same as opposing Jews. Were that correct, it would like saying the opposition of Americans or anyone else to the American government is the same as opposition to the USA. Trying to silence criticism violates the notion of free speech that is enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution.
No one knows how or when the war in Gaza will stop. Until it does, the students will keep holding their demonstrations. They are objecting to the policies of the Jewish state, not the Jews.
- April 27, 2024
John Miller is Pastor of The Chapel Without Walls on Hilton Head Island, SC. More of his writings may be viewed at www.chapelwithoutwalls.org.