Emotionally and psychologically I am a pacifist. I so deeply wish war was not a part of life. In my small way, I try to work toward Isaiahs vision of nation shall not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war anymore. I face the enemy. With a genuine open heart, I have conversations with people who are different from me. These conversations have totally changed me but have not changed my beliefs, if that makes any sense.
I feel for the innocent civilians in this conflict, all of them, Palestinians too. I stand with all innocent victims. I am very pained to see loss of innocent Palestinian life, who are victims of Hamas, too. In that way, our fates are intertwined. As a human being I stand with all innocent civilians on both sides of this conflict.
Yet ultimately, I stand with my people. I stand with Israel and with Operation Pillar of Defense. I deeply wish it didnt have to be this way.
But negotiating a peace agreement with the demonic Hamas, sworn to the destruction of Israel, calling for the genocide of the Jewish people of Israel, would have been a slow suicide pact. Pragmatically, Israel needed to do what it needed to do to protect her citizens. The cause at stake, the safety of Israeli citizens, made this war inevitable.
A million citizens in southern Israel, living within the pre-1967 borders, have been suffering the trauma of code red sirens and the fear of death from the onslaught of hundreds of rockets fired upon them from Gaza by Hamas and its allies.
These people were coping with a constant threat; none of us should expect them to live this way. The situation became untenable.
Not a peep was mentioned about this in the mainstream media. If it were not for Facebook statuses from friends living in southern Israel, I wouldnt have known about it. After showing superhuman restraint, Israel finally said enough is enough, and struck back.
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