Loving our neighbor when antisemitism spikes

By the Rev. Cariño Casas
CMJ USA

Last month, Israel endured 11 days of rockets from Hamas-controlled Gaza. Hamas and related terror groups fired 4,369 rockets toward Israel . After nearly two-thirds fell off-target or misfired, the remaining 1,500 approached cities and neighborhoods. Iron Dome, Israel’s missile defense system, destroyed most of those. However, the 150 or so that escaped Iron Dome hit homes and vehicles, killing a dozen Israeli civilians. In Gaza, 243 people – mostly militants – were killed in Israeli airstrikes.  

Some people look at those numbers, and because Israeli deaths were few, they decide that Israel must be at fault : Israel is the stronger entity, so Israel must be in the wrong. It’s not that simple. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is complex. While the Israeli government and military are not perfect, neither is Hamas an innocent victim. Their continued goal is to eliminate Israel “from the river to the sea.” Hamas victimizes not just Israelis but the residents of Gaza, among whom they hide their rocket launchers and military headquarters . Here in the U.S., after an election cycle that further damaged civil discourse and frustrations borne of 15 months of the pandemic, few want to make time for details and complexity.