Ceasefire? Ceasefire?!? Hell, no.

My Facebook feed is being flooded with people demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. There's lots of teeth-gnashing and rending of garments about the loss of lives in Gaza but I haven't read a single post that even mentions what precipitated the current catastrophe for Gazan civilians. No acknowledgement of the atrocities committed by Hamas, no demand that Hamas free their hostages, no admission that Hamas terrorists use Gazan civilians as human shields, no mention of Hamas hiding their munitions and command centres under hospitals, schools and mosques, no mention that Hamas won't allow Gazans to flee the war zone, no admission that the IDF drops leaflets to warn Gazans to evacuate an identified Hamas target and certainly no acknowledgement of Hamas's stated goal of exterminating Jews in Israel and around the world.

People who are demanding an immediate ceasefire have made it clear that it's only Arab lives that matter to them. They were virtually silent when 1,400 Israeli residents were slaughtered (I say residents because it wasn't just Israeli Jews that were tortured and murdered). They ignore or distort history to erase the truth of Jews' connection to the land of Israel and they conveniently forget the multiple occasions when Palestinians refused offers to form their own country, responding instead by stepping up terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians.

The ceasefire proponents also like to wail about Gazans living in prison-like conditions because of Israeli blockades, never admitting that fences were erected to stop Hamas and other terrorists from entering Israel to kill innocents at pizza parlours, wedding receptions and bus shelters. There's also no admission that Gaza has a border with Egypt that the Egyptians keep shut because they too have been the victims of Palestinian acts of terror.

Most importantly, the ceasefire crowd simply brushes aside the fact that it was Hamas who declared war by their cowardly acts of Oct. 7th and it is not the aggressor who gets to choose how the victim of atrocities responds. Israel has the right and the obligation to do whatever is necessary to protect their citizens and the only party responsible for the deaths of Gazan civilians is Hamas.

The loss of life in Gaza could be halted in an instant if Hamas surrendered their hostages and put down their arms. Why don't the enlightened intelligentsia who are screaming 'ceasefire' make such a demand? Why is it only Israel that must make concessions and surrender their right to self-defence?

The answer is blindingly obvious: Jewish lives are of little importance to these anti-war simpletons. Whatever happened on Oct. 7th was obviously the fault of those myopic Jews who think they're entitled to live peacefully and securely in their own land and unlike Arab terrorists, Israel must prioritize the protection of Arab civilians no matter how heinous the crimes committed against innocent Israelis. Demanding that Israel adhere to a different standard of behaviour than what is expected from other people and countries is one of the classic hallmarks of anti-Semitism and that is an accurate albeit regrettable descriptor of ceasefire advocates.

Perhaps it is simple naivete rather than anti-Semitism that motivates those who are demanding that Israel lays down its arms, but history is replete with examples of Jews being persecuted and murdered and so you will have to forgive this Jew if he actually believes Hamas when they state that their ultimate goal is the eradication of the Jewish people and if I impute the sleaziest of motives to those demanding a ceasefire.

For the sake of future generations of Jews and non-Jews alike, it is imperative that Israel ends the tyranny and extermination dreams of Hamas once and for all. Yes, Gazan civilians are going to die but that is not because of the way in which Israel has chosen to wage this war of survival. It is because Gazans elected Hamas to lead them and they are now paying the price for Hamas doing exactly what its charter says they're going to do.

One last note. There were no widespread demands for the Allies in World War II to stop bombing Germany and Japan because of the potential loss of civilian life. It was understood by most rational people that the loss of non-military lives is the inevitable by-product of war and the only way to prevent such a loss of life is by not starting a war of extermination as the Germans and Japanese did. Hamas started their own war with the goal of exterminating the Jews and there is only one way to respond to such aggression. Thankfully, Israel is doing exactly what circumstances demand.

Henry Roth

November 2,2023