The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com.
Amy Fried is a retired political science professor at the University of Maine. Her views are her own and do not represent those of any group with which she is affiliated.
I’ve been heartbroken by the terrorist attack by Hamas. Young people dancing, full of joy, were mowed down. Babies were burned, people were mutilated, tortured and dragged away as hostages. I know people with loved ones killed by terrorists.
This is a time for moral clarity and for recognizing that what happened and is happening in Israel and Gaza is simple and complicated.
The simple part is that what Hamas did was evil. Anyone who cheers or rationalizes what Hamas did is morally bankrupt.
But there is also an absence of moral reasoning and judgment that comes from oversimplification. There’s been stark language misapplied, facile analyses and misunderstandings of historical and current realities. These undermine our ability to go forward ethically and practically.
We must recognize that Hamas treated Gazans and Israelis as objects, acting in a way calculated to undermine better relations between Israel and other middle eastern countries. This is known regionally. Last week Prince Turki Al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia stated, “We condemn Hamas for its attempt to prevent normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel.”
Palestinians in Gaza don’t support Hamas. According to a July 2023 poll, 70 percent backed having the Palestinian Authority take over governance; 62 percent of Gazans supported continuing a ceasefire with Israel. It’s also telling that Hamas has not allowed an election since 2006, the year after the Israeli military ended its occupation of Gaza.
The people of Gaza have suffered from Hamas ruling with corruption and misusing funds, from Hamas opposing all negotiations with Israel over land and instead pledging to destroy Israel, and from Hamas starting this war by engaging in brutality they knew would draw a military response.
We must care both about Israelis and the people of Gaza. All deserve dignity, security and political rights.
Israel should act thoughtfully and carefully in prosecuting this war. A complete ceasefire would not allow them to pursue terrorists but military action should be focused to avoid civilian casualties.
Outsiders should recognize that Israel is a vibrant multiracial country that has existed for 75 years and its 9.8 million people are not leaving. 78 percent of Israel’s Jews were born there. According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, a quarter of Jewish Israelis have European ancestry; about half are Mitzrahi, i.e., descended from north African or middle eastern Jews. While, unlike every other country, Jews are the majority, 21 percent of Israelis are non-Jewish Arabs. Those Arab-Israelis vote, form political parties and serve in the Knesset. Hamas killed and kidnapped them, too.
Also Israel and its government deserve criticism. Its democracy was strained by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s effort to change the judicial system, which led to huge protests. Netanyahu’s policies supporting settlements and the extremist settler movement damaged the potential for a Palestinian state, which earlier were thwarted after Palestinian leader Yassar Arafat walked away from a peace plan. Netanyahu’s government has been too harsh in the West Bank and Gaza and harmed innocent Palestinians. Earlier terrorist attacks and promises he’d provide security helped Netanyahu gain power but Israelis recognize he failed. Netanyahu miscalculated Hamas.
Now there are some practical steps to take and avoid.
Humanitarian aid needs to be delivered to Gaza. Like al-Qaida was, Hamas must be degraded if not destroyed. A full-scale Israeli invasion and occupation is a bad idea, as it would be highly damaging and could lead to a wider war. Gazans will need support to rebuild. Israeli settlements should be halted. The media should take care not to spread propaganda, like the debunked claim by Hamas about the al-Ahli Arab Hospital, which turned out to be damaged by a rocket launched in Gaza.
And let us recognize that, while Oct. 7 was filled with brutality, there was also heroism by both non-Jewish Arab-Israelis and Jewish Israelis.
We can take heart from those heroes and from the words of Eyal Waldman, whose daughter and her boyfriend were murdered at the music festival. While stressing the need to protect Israel, Waldman, who owns a tech company with operations in Israel and in Gaza, said, “Our hands are always reaching out for peace.” Any possibility for peace requires understanding circumstances and morality with all their simplicity and complexity.
