Moral clarity is lost. We must raise our voices to restore it.
On October 7, Hamas acted on its expressed genocidal drive to brutally murder, rape, and kidnap Jewish men, women, and children. It is committed to repeating that violence over and over, given the chance. From the outset, President Joe Biden spoke with moral clarity, describing the events of that day as pure evil and standing behind Israel’s moral obligation to defend itself. The president continues to support Israel, but we fear the apparent weakening of that support due to the passage of time and opposing voices and pressures from various quarters. It is, therefore, time for the rest of us to make our voices heard, louder than ever, to press the president and his administration to restore moral clarity.
Palestinian Americans in Michigan and elsewhere are experiencing unimaginable grief as they see images of devastation from Gaza, of millions of their people rendered homeless, and of the deaths of family and friends. The human rights community, domestically and internationally, is preoccupied with Israel’s alleged failings in providing humanitarian aid to those with whom it is at war – while paying little to no attention to the man-made famine in Sudan and to every other crisis. They, of course, blame Israel and not Hamas, whose viciousness does not distinguish between Jews and Palestinians.
We must insist that the true culprits are blamed.
Some American Jewish longtime supporters of Israel advocate for dated policy prescriptions that have been widely rejected by the vast majority of Israel’s electorate, both those who love and who hate the current prime minister. They are unable to let the idyllic future of their dreams be interrupted by the Hamas nightmare that has been lauded by a significant majority of Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza. It is time to let Israel determine its own security needs.
We must say clearly and loudly to those who would tie Israel’s hands that Israel is morally obligated to continue this war until it finishes the job of destroying Hamas throughout Gaza – including Rafah – and eliminate its capacity to regroup and rearm. Israel must totally eradicate the Hamas terror infrastructure, the tunnels built by the Palestinians at the expense of constructing homes and lives for the Gazans, and that must now be destroyed despite the terrible toll that it will take.
We must push back against the narrative that is feeding the tidal wave of antisemitism, harming American Jews every day, absurdly turning the accusation of genocide against those defending themselves from it.
We must state loudly and proudly that this is the battle of good against unspeakable evil, of a moral army fighting a cynical and hateful enemy that prefers the benefits of generating images of their own bloodied children to allowing those children to live and thrive in peace, alongside Jews.
After 180 days of unimaginable torture, we must increase our relentless push to achieve the unconditional and immediate release of each and every hostage, dead or alive. The United Nations and the Red Cross, the Qataris and the Egyptians, and all those who champion human rights for everyone but the Jews, continue to fail those men, women, and children held captive. It is time to say enough to this travesty, this trading of innocent hostages for convicted and unrepentant terrorists eager to get back to their work of murdering and maiming Jews.
October 7 as a a wake-up call
Each and every hostage from this conflict and from previous conflicts must be unconditionally and immediately returned home.
October 7 and its aftermath should have been a wake-up call for everyone: for the nations of the world, for Jews and Palestinians who dream of peace, and for the progressive champions of human rights who have made the Palestinian cause their own. If they did awaken briefly, they have since gone back to sleep.
But we are awake and must not stand by in stunned silence. On Wednesday, 180 days since the nightmare of October 7, the Orthodox Union hand-delivered letters from 180,000 Americans urging President Biden and the administration to remain strong in their support of Israel, the Jewish people, and the hostages – and to restore moral clarity to a very confused world.
Please join your voice with ours. Speak up!
The writer is executive vice president of the Orthodox Union.