4 | FEBRUARY 22 • 2024 J
N
PURELY COMMENTARY
continued on page 7
essay
Reading the War
I
srael’s War against Hamas
in the Gaza Strip is now
over four months old. The
heinous Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas
terrorist attack upon innocent
Israeli civilians — as well as
foreign visitors and friends who
happened to be in the area —
sparked a war
that continues to
rage with no end
in sight.
I have always
read widely about
Israel. For the
past 10 years,
working with
the Detroit Jewish
News as its archivist, I have con-
sidered it an obligation to stay
informed about current Israeli
events as well as the history
of Israel. However, since Oct.
7, my reading about Israel has
had a specific purpose beyond
self-enlightenment.
The JN is a local publication.
We have relationships with
freelance writers in Israel, but
we do not have the capacity
to station reporters there, or
elsewhere in the world, for that
matter. Since the JN debuted in
1942, it has maintained recip-
rocal agreements with Jewish
news services and publications
such as the Jewish Telegraphic
Agency (founded in 1917), the
Jewish News Syndicate (2011)
and The Forward (1897), which
allows the JN to bring you news
from beyond our local area.
Note that using reports and
stories from these services also
provide a wide range of views,
from the political left to right.
Since Oct. 7, therefore, I have
been intensely reading news
of Israel to select meaningful
materials about the war for
the JN and our website, www.
thejewishnews.com. It can be a
daunting task, to say the least.
After 130 days, I have some
thoughts on what I have learned
while “Reading the War.”
FIRST, READ WITH
A SKEPTICAL EYE
One must always read with a
skeptical eye, or academic skep-
ticism. In short, don’t believe
everything you read, especially,
when it comes to reporting on
Israel, the nation a lot of global
media love to bash. For exam-
ple, consider the “bombing”
of the al-Ahli hospital in Gaza
on Oct. 17. Many media out-
lets rushed to accuse the IDF
of indiscriminate fire on the
hospital. A few days later, there
was substantial evidence that it
was a Hamas rocket misfire that
caused the damage … damage
that was much less than first
reported, by the way.
Or for another example(s),
just spend some time on the
internet or social media and
you will read many outrageous
claims, such as it was actually
the IDF that massacred 1,200
Israeli citizens, just to start a
war with Hamas. Or that the
usually respected BBC reported
the IDF was separating babies
from their mothers in Gaza.
Mistaken reports are one
issue, but what is truly dis-
tressing is that there are people
who find some of the outra-
geous claims believable. This is
antisemitism at its worst.
WAR IS HELL
The most overwhelming aspect
of reading about the war are
the reports of human suffer-
ing. Horrible, but unavoidable
in war. It was Union General
William Tecumseh Sherman,
during the American Civil War,
who succinctly described the
essence of any armed conflict in
three words: “War is hell.”
Indeed, it is, and the reports
from Israel and Gaza provide
ample proof. To date, over 1,200
civilians have been killed in
Israel and thousands wounded;
nearly 600 IDF soldiers killed
in action; thousands of Gazan
civilians killed and wounded,
some innocent, some not; and
over 100 innocents are still held
hostage by Hamas. And all of
this says nothing about physical
devastation to buildings and
homes, or displaced people in
both Israel and Gaza.
The key difference regarding
the latter is that, in Israel, the
government is trying its best
to support its displaced citi-
zens, even if efforts fall short
of perfect; Hamas uses citizens
in Gaza as shields during bat-
tle and could care less if they
suffer.
U.S. Secretary of State
Antony Blinken clearly summa-
rized the situation: “None of the
suffering would have happened
if Hamas hadn’t done what it
did on Oct. 7 and if it made dif-
ferent decisions thereafter.”
ISRAEL HAD TO ACT
The spring of 2023 was a time
of joy and hope for Israel as it
celebrated its 75th birthday;
five months later, it was faced
with its worst single loss of life
in a day, and a war against ter-
rorism.
To put this in comparative
terms, the Oct. 7 attack by
Hamas would be the same as if
a group of terrorists crossed the
Detroit River and killed 40,000
innocent citizens. Of course,
prior to this attack, they would
have been launching rockets
into Michigan for years. Would
the U.S. stand idle after such an
attack? Or would any nation,
for that matter?
Israel lives in a tough neigh-
borhood, and it has withstood
terrorism since its founding.
Jews living there survived ter-
rorism in 1920s and 1930s prior
to the founding of Modern
Israel, as well as major wars
upon its founding in 1948, and
afterward in 1956, 1967, 1973,
1982 and 2006. See Ian Black’s
book, Enemies and Neighbors, for
a great, even-handed history
of Jews facing conflict in the
region over the last 100+ years.
On Oct. 7, however, more
Jews died in a single day since
the end of the Holocaust, all
killed by a group sworn to
eliminate all Jews and the State
of Israel. The question is an old
one — what kind of people are
these terrorists? Fanatics that
will rape and kill indiscrimi-
nately and use video cameras
and phones to capture images
of themselves doing despicable
acts and bragging about them
afterward to their families and
friends. These are people with-
out conscience or honor.
Mike Smith
Alene and
Graham Landau
Archivist Chair